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At 21:52 14/06/2016 +0000, Macfarlane, Alison wrote: >The FOI report is clearly the source of the news article. It asked numbers >of nursing shifts covered by agency staff, then the total spend on agency >staff. Perhaps this included other agency staff as well as the nursing staffs? That's what I suggested earlier, but the responses to those FOI questions repeatedly talk about nurses (albeit community as well as hospital nurses), so I suspect that my/our suggestion is not the case. >In any case, the more important question is why the hospital carried on >using agency staff to such a great extent and didn't advertise for bank >staff sooner. Indeed, but you could have asked that question, of almost any hospital/Trust, at any time during the last 40 or so years. I remember agency staff expenditure being a major issue back in the 70s, and was largely responsible for the widespread creation of 'bank' schemes. They didn't really seem to work very well, and one suggestion at that time (which may have been true then, and may even still be true, in some guise, now!) was that much of the problem was due to the 'pigeon-holing' of budgets. At that time, it seems that 'bank' staff were paid out of the 'employed staff' pigeon hole (which was often empty!), whereas there was a separate pigeon-hole full of money with which to pay (_very_ much more expensive in those days) agency staff. Kind Regards, John ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dr John Whittington, Voice: +44 (0) 1296 730225 Mediscience Services Fax: +44 (0) 1296 738893 Twyford Manor, Twyford, E-mail: [log in to unmask] Buckingham MK18 4EL, UK ---------------------------------------------------------------- ****************************************************** Please note that if you press the 'Reply' button your message will go only to the sender of this message. If you want to reply to the whole list, use your mailer's 'Reply-to-All' button to send your message automatically to [log in to unmask] Disclaimer: The messages sent to this list are the views of the sender and cannot be assumed to be representative of the range of views held by subscribers to the Radical Statistics Group. To find out more about Radical Statistics and its aims and activities and read current and past issues of our newsletter you are invited to visit our web site www.radstats.org.uk. *******************************************************