Expenditure on expensive off-contract agency nurses across the north’s health service has been reduced by £121m, according to Western Trust Chief Executive Neil Guckian.

Derry Journal

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00:00We've been also transforming our workforce. The work that we've done in Northern Ireland

00:04on nursing is the envy of every jurisdiction in the UK and indeed the Republic of Ireland.

00:1218 months ago, Health and Social Care Northern Ireland was wholly reliant on off-contract

00:17agency nurses to the extent of £136 million. We've reduced that by £121 million forecast

00:24this year. So we have replaced that by substantive nursing staff and on-contract nursing. What

00:31does that really mean? It means we're able to buy more nurses for the same money but

00:36also take resources out of our nursing costs. But also we're able to stabilise and sustain

00:43our nursing workforce into the long term. So we've been able to absorb, in most acute

00:49hospitals in Northern Ireland, there's been approximately a 5% increase in occupancy

00:54levels in the last 12 months. We've been able to absorb the nursing costs of that without

00:59an increase in our deficits. In times gone by that, we would have actually increased

01:04our deficits through the year and we would have had to come back to the executive for

01:07more money in that. As a result of the department and all trust leadership have stood shoulder

01:14to shoulder. Minister made announcements we were going to end this and we've delivered

01:18it and we've delivered it really, really well. We're moving on now to medical workforce.

01:22That's going to be a lot more tricky. It's going to take a bit longer. We believe it'll

01:25take a number of years. But by consolidating our workforce and making our workforce sustainable,

01:31I think that will really, really link into our transformation.

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