Temporary NHS workers 'compromising quality of care'

The widespread use of temporary and agency workers within the NHS could be placing patients at risk, a new report from British academics has warned.

According to research carried out by the universities of Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham and the West of Scotland, given the scale of the job involved, NHS trusts often have no choice but to employ such workers in order to maintain basic services,

However, the report adds that, not only are temporary workers a costlier staffing solution than permanent workers, but this practice could also be compromising the quality of care being offered patients, with agency employees often lacking knowledge of the hospital in which they are working and having little or no commitment to their employers at the time.

Commenting, Professor Kirkpatrick, deputy director of the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change in Leeds, which led the research, said: "Agency staff play an important role in providing flexibility and the ability to bring in specialists as required.

"However, there are some significant risks, both in making sure the right people are recruited and that support systems for those people, once in post, are effective."

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