250 Dollar Per Hour Nurse
ironjustice
to £128 an HOUR
By Jenny Hope
Last updated at 1:19 AM on 03rd January 2009
The NHS spent about £800million on agency staff in 2006-07
Millions of pounds of health service funds are being wasted employing
agency nurses on up to £128 an hour.
This is almost ten times the amount paid to an experienced staff
nurse - and equates to a salary of £250,000.
Overall, the health service spent almost £800million on agency
doctors, nurses and consultants in 2006-07, according to the figures
uncovered in a Freedom of Information request. That could fund around
ten hospitals or employ 30,000 full- time experienced nurses.
Agency staff are plugging the holes left by the 11,000 nurses who left
to work overseas last year, seeking better pay and conditions.
The yawning gap between rates for NHS workers and agency locums exists
at every level including managers and even prison GPs, who have been
paid up to £158 an hour.
The figures also show that much of the money goes into the pockets of
agency bosses rather than to the workers, who can earn less than two-
thirds of what the NHS pays out.
The Department of Health insists that the amount spent on agency staff
is falling, year on year.
But critics say it must do more to prevent agencies 'creaming off'
millions meant to improve the standards of care. Dr Peter Carter, the
chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing,
said: 'We are concerned and we want the Government to tackle this as a
matter of urgency.
'If the NHS made more effort attracting and retaining permanent staff,
it would obviate the need for many agency nurses.
'It's understandable that members of the public seeing these huge
rates wonder whether nurses really are underpaid, but the reality is
that individuals working for agencies get much less than the NHS is
charged. There are private companies that are making a killing out of
the NHS.'
He said many nurses were emigrating, partly because the NHS could not
help with high housing costs in many areas.
He said: 'There has been a huge surge in UK nurses wanting to work
abroad and they have employment opportunities in the U.S., Australia,
South Africa and other countries. Almost 11,000 went last year.'
Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley, who obtained the figures, said:
'For years the Government have been telling us how many extra staff
they have hired for the NHS. So surely we should have reached a
situation by now where we no longer need to keep paying out millions
each year to agencies and their staff?
'It is a dreadful waste of taxpayers' money at a time when we can
least afford it.'
All NHS trusts were asked to provide details of the highest amount
they paid to an agency worker between May and October 2008 and there
was a response rate of more than 70 per cent.
An agency nurse employed at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust in Swindon was paid £128 an hour. An experienced nurse on Band 5
pay in the NHS gets £13 an hour or £26,000 a year - almost ten times
less.
Whipps Cross University Hospitals NHS Trust said it paid £188 an hour
for an anaesthetics medical consultant, equivalent to a salary of
£366,000.
The resulting data did not show whether the workers came from
privately-run agencies or from NHS Professionals, a non-profit agency
set up by the Government to provide flexible staff. Some agencies-were
taking large cuts. Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust paid £116
per hour for a nurse but the agency took £50 (43 per cent).
Matthew Elliott of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Agencies have
creamed off millions of pounds of taxpayers' money, whilst patients
continue to receive below-par care.'
A Department of Health spokesman said: 'Temporary staff have, and
continue to have, a key role in helping the NHS to respond to
fluctuations in demand for services and in staff availability.
'The total pay bill spent on agency staff has reduced from 5.5 per
cent in 2003-04, to 4.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 3.5 per cent in
2005-06, 2.7 per cent in 2006-07 and 3.2 per cent in 2007-08.'
Who loves ya.
Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://tinyurl.com/634q5a
Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/4rq595
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
ironj...@aol.com
squanders millions on agency staff - with some nurses earning up to
£128 an HOUR <<
"To prevent opportunistic, hospital-acquired disease, taking care of
teeth and gums while hospitalized might be especially important."
"Bacteria from patient's dental plaque causes ventilator-associated
pneumonia"
Samples of plaque from teeth and of secretions from the trachea were
obtained from ICU patients on the day of admission and every third day
thereafter, up to 21 days.
Bronchial alveolar lavage samples also were collected from those
suspected of having developed pneumonia.
Samples from nine patients who were found to have the pathogens of
interest in their plaque and were suspected of having pneumonia were
selected for analysis. Protein and DNA profiles of pathogens in plaque
and in bronchial alveolar lavage samples were identified using a
process called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.
Results showed that genetic profiles of bacteria from tracheal and
bronchial samples of the nine patients with pneumonia were identical
to profiles of bacteria from their dental plaque.
"These results suggest that the teeth likely serve as an important
reservoir of infection in these patients," said Heo.
"To prevent opportunistic, hospital-acquired disease, taking care of
teeth and gums while hospitalized might be especially important."
'"/>
Contact: Lois Baker
ljb...@buffalo.edu
716-645-5000 x1417
University at Buffalo
23-Mar-2007
Who loves ya.
Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://tinyurl.com/634q5a
Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/4rq595
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
> NHS squanders millions on agency staff - with some nurses earning up
> to £128 an HOUR
> By Jenny Hope
> Last updated at 1:19 AM on 03rd January 2009
> The NHS spent about £800million on agency staff in 2006-07
> Millions of pounds of health service funds are being wasted employing
> agency nurses on up to £128 an hour.
> This is almost ten times the amount paid to an experienced staffnurse - and equates to a salary of £250,000.
> An agencynurseemployed at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation
> Trust in Swindon was paid £128 an hour. An experiencednurseon Band 5
> pay in the NHS gets £13 an hour or £26,000 a year - almost ten times
> less.
>
> Whipps Cross University Hospitals NHS Trust said it paid £188 an hour
> for an anaesthetics medical consultant, equivalent to a salary of
> £366,000.
> The resulting data did not show whether the workers came from
> privately-run agencies or from NHS Professionals, a non-profit agency
> set up by the Government to provide flexible staff. Some agencies-were
> taking large cuts. Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust paid £116
> per hour for anursebut the agency took £50 (43 per cent).
ironj...@aol.com
"To prevent opportunistic, hospital-acquired disease, taking care of
teeth and gums while hospitalized might be especially important." <<
No brushing required .. here ..
Starved to death in an NHS hospital: Damning inquiry highlights case
of patient left without food for 26 days
By Michael Lea
Last updated at 2:17 AM on 09th January 2009
A vulnerable patient starved to death in an NHS hospital after 26 days
without proper nourishment.