We urge the government to take immediate action in addressing the NHS's costly reliance on external for-profit staff recruitment agencies.

Supporting the establishment of an NHS-run recruitment agency & mandating its use for all NHS staff hiring could enable the NHS to save billions of pounds yearly. In 2019-2020, £6.2 billion was spent on temporary staff, with a significant portion going to agency fees. External agency staff receive higher pay than NHS staff, causing disparity and driving existing staff away, leaving the NHS more dependent on agencies. Savings could be used to increase existing staff wages. We believe that outsourcing recruitment perpetuates a financially unsustainable model that hinders the NHS's ability to deliver cost-effective, high-quality healthcare to the public.