Around £1m is spent every month on locum and agency staff to support key hospital services in Swansea Bay. The figures vary from month to month, peaking at just under £1.4m in February this year after dropping to around £700,000 last October. They were just over £1m in March 2022.
A report by Swansea Bay University Health Board said "off-contract" agencies were sometimes used for locums to fill gaps, meaning the costs were "hidden" until they were processed by the accounts team. The report said work was being done to limit this usage. General medicine accounts for the highest locum and agency spend by far, followed by psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and surgery.
The health board's workforce and organisational development committee report said: "The data is showing that gaps within the rotas remain a significant challenge and account for approximately 48 per cent of locum duties." All five health boards in Wales use locum and agency staff, and although the costs are not inconsiderable they are a fraction of the overall workforce budget. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
