NEARLY £20 million was spent by an NHS trust in Devon on temporary staff last year, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has shown.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust spent £19,106,614 on temporary agency staff in the last financial year, between April 2023 and March 2024, the FOI shows.

The figure includes both worker pay and the commission paid to agencies.

The trust oversees several hospital and clinics, including Derriford Hospital.

Of the total figure spent on temporary staff, close to £8million went to nursing.

More than £1million was spent on Allied Health Professionals, which includes professions like dieticians and osteopaths.

A total of £3,277,084 was spent on temporary staff in non-clinical roles, such as admin or cleaning; the remaining £6,830,580 was spent on medical costs.

In November 2024, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting set out plans to clamp down on temporary workers in the NHS.

Under joint plans to be put forward for consultation, NHS trusts could be banned from using agencies to hire temporary entry level workers in band 2 and 3, such as healthcare assistants and domestic support workers.

The consultation will also include a proposal to stop NHS staff resigning and then immediately offering their services back to the health service through a recruitment agency.

According to the government, recruitment agencies have charged NHS trusts up to £2,000 for a single nursing shift.

Overall, the NHS spent £3 billion on agency staff in 2023.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, said: ‘For too long desperate hospitals have been forced to pay eye-watering sums of money on temporary staff, costing the taxpayer billions, and pulling experienced staff out of the NHS.

‘We’re not going to let the NHS get ripped off anymore.’