Health trust runs up huge bill on locums

Health trust runs up huge bill on locums

8 February 2017

SPEND on locum doctor cover at hospitals across the South Eastern Trust area has doubled over the past six years to £4.75m, with the bulk of the money spent at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

The figure has been obtained via a Freedom of Information request by SDLP South Down Assembly election candidate, Colin McGrath. He has expressed “concern and alarm” at the scale of the financial outlay.

The South Eastern Trust, which is responsible for the Downe, Ulster and Lagan Valley hospitals, said there are a number of contributory factors to the locum spend, explaining a considerable portion of the money is spent at junior doctor level where there is a shortage of staff.

Mr McGrath claimed the major spend suggests an “industry is being created which is lucrative to only a few” with last year’s locum spend at the Ulster Hospital approaching £3m.

“I am concerned at the spiralling cost of locum doctors and the impact this is having on medical resources,” he declared. “The costs associated with a locum far exceed those of doctors on the payroll and I hope that certain bespoke practitioners aren’t determining that it is more profitable to be a locum than permanent employee.”

Mr McGrath said questions need to be asked why Northern Ireland’s Health Service cannot attract full-time permanent staff, making it clear he would like to see an investigation to determine that there is no attempt being made to “abuse the public purse.”

A Trust spokeswoman explained there are a number of main reasons for the locum expenditure, including reduced allocations of medical trainees, increased numbers of doctors working overseas for periods of time and increased demand requiring additional medical staff.

The spokeswoman said other contributory factors include enhanced seven-day working which requires increased shift cover, hard-to-fill posts, vacancies, increased sickness and maternity leave cover, maintaining safe services and increasing costs of hourly rates.

She added: “A considerable portion of the spend is at junior doctor level. There are more posts at this level across Northern Ireland than there are doctors to fill them, so this is a problem affecting the entire region and not just the South Eastern Trust.”