§ 3. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington)If he will make a statement on the use of agency nurses within the NHS. [19657]
§ The Minister of State, Department of Health (Mr. John Hutton)We are taking action to ensure that the use of agency nurses represents good value for money and the highest possible standards of patient care. NHS Professionals will, by April 2003, provide a comprehensive and cost-effective service for all NHS trusts. The London agency project will also offer a better value for money service for the NHS in London.
§ Tom BrakeThe Minister will be aware that, in 2000–01, 574 per cent. more was spent on agency nurses than had been budgeted for, which works out at £6 million per trust. Will he explain how many more permanent nursing staff he expects to be recruited and retained as a result of his initiative? Permanent staff are needed for continuity, and that is what patients want.
§ Mr. HuttonI agree with the hon. Gentleman's point. London has historically had a very high dependency on agency nursing, and we need to tackle that problem. We can do so in two ways. First, we can increase the number of whole-time equivalent nurses working in the NHS in London. We are making good progress on that. In fact, there are more whole-time equivalent nurses working in the Croydon health authority and in the Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth health authority this year than there were in September 1996. That is progress, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman welcomes it.
Secondly, we can tackle the problem in the way that I have outlined through the development of NHS Professionals. Three trusts in London use the NHS Professionals service now, but by April 2003, it will cover them all. The London agency project will also ensure better value for money and offer the possibility of significant savings. We now have 29 commercial agencies contracting with the NHS in areas of shortage such as accident and emergency, operating theatres and critical care. The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to tackle this problem, and this is the right way to go about it. I think that the means that I have described will provide the solution.
§ Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock)What measures are in hand to ensure the tracking and recording of agency staff, bearing it in mind that recent police investigations have been hampered by the fact that some trusts have been unable to demonstrate who they employed, when and in what circumstances? Is this not indicative of the nonsense of using agency staff? What is being done to contain, control and record them, and to provide a historical record to enable us to see who has been hired in the past?
§ Mr. HuttonI strongly agree with my hon. Friend on that point. Again, there are two ways for us to make progress on the problem. From next April, for the first time, the National Care Standards Commission will set new national minimum standards for nursing agencies, which will cover precisely the issue that he raised. There is also the possibility of dealing with these issues through NHS Professionals, which will be the in-house agency that deals with temporary staffing solutions, and which will tackle precisely this issue. Many concerns have been raised about inappropriately trained staff working in environments in which they clearly should not be working, and we will not tolerate that.
§ Mrs. Marion Roe (Broxbourne)Does the Minister accept that until the Labour Government make working in the national health service an attractive proposition, there will continue to be a shortage of nurses? Will he kindly tell the House how many nurses are expected to retire in the next five years, and how many are expected to be recruited from United Kingdom training courses?
§ Mr. HuttonThe hon. Lady is perfectly right that we need to make the NHS a more attractive place for people to work in, and that is precisely what we are doing. That is why 17,000 more nurses are working in the NHS this year than in the last year of the Conservative Government. We are making progress in all those areas. Clearly, nurses will retire from the service, but our commitment to recruit an extra 20,000 nurses will compensate for those who are leaving. We are talking about increasing the number of 700 nurses available to people in the NHS, not cutting it. The hon. Lady would benefit from reflecting on the record of her party. One of its parting bequests was to cut the number of nurses in training for the NHS.