Hospitals in South West Spend Over £1 Million on Locum Doctors

Hospitals in South West Spend Over £1 Million on Locum DoctorsSubmitted by Neeraj Shahane on Thu, 01/16/2014 - 08:22 

To make sure that the emergency units are completely staffed, hospitals in South West spent approximately 33% more on locum doctors as compared to the amount they spent four years ago.
In 2012-13, the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UHNS) spent an amount of £1.1 million for the same purpose. In contrast, £1.3 million, £1.4m and £645,571 were spent in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively.
North Devon Hospital said locum doctors could earn two times more the amount earned by staff doctors with an NHS consultant.
Staff doctors are paid an amount of about £717 for a 12 hour shift whereas non-NHS agency consultants get nearly £1,402 for the same time-period.

“The trust managed to reduce spending on locums by 50 per cent in the emergency centre for normal working shift patterns”, says Vanessa Gardener, Chief Operating Officer for UHNS.
If figures of the insurance party are to be believed, last year amount spent on locum doctors increased to £83.3 million from £52 million in 2009-10.
North Devon Hospital revealed that the employment drive organized in recent times was a huge success. From March, there will be a team of six in their emergency department.