SPENDING on agency staff at Fairfield General Hospital increased by almost £2m last year, we can reveal.

The cash was used to cover a shortage of doctors, midwives and nurses in permanent posts.

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which is charged with running Bury's only hospital, spent £4.361m on agency staff between 2014 and 2015 – but that figure increased to £6.303m for 2015 to 2016.

And trust-wide agency spending – the total for Fairfield, North Manchester General Hospital, the Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary combined – has nearly tripled from £13.258m in 2011/12 to £38.642m for 2015/16.

The figures were revealed as part of a Freedom of Information request by the Bury Times.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said relying on expensive temps represents poor value for taxpayers' money and suggests the Pennine Trust isn't managing its staffing levels appropriately at Fairfield.

“Of course there will be times when the hospital will need short-term cover or temporary assistance but all spending has to represent value for money,” he added.

“Hospital bosses need to work hard to bring this bill down so they can make sure that as much money as possible is going towards essential front-line care."

Barbara Barlow, chair of Healthwatch Bury, said she had been reassured by the Pennine Trust that recruitment was a priority, but also added that staff shortages are a national problem.

She said: “Unfortunately, during the past few years there have not been enough doctors and nurses trained to satisfy the needs of trusts throughout the country and everyone is fishing in the same pool.

“Healthwatch Bury will be monitoring progress at future meetings with the trust.”

Agency workers and temporary staff in general are a widely used resource within the NHS in an attempt to plan for and manage fluctuations in demand, as well as for covering for periods of short term workforce shortage.

But a statement on the NHS’ own website explains how temporary staff and agency workers in particular can prove an expensive resource for the service, and as a result trusts are looking at options to reduce their temporary staffing costs.

Jon Lenney, director of workforce and organisational development at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said that, like other trusts across the country, Pennine is experiencing a shortage of doctors, midwives and nurses in permanent posts.

As part of its improvement plan, he said the trust has committed to reduce reliance on agency staff and ensure that staffing levels and skill mix are adequate and appropriate to consistently provide high quality care.

“The trust is working very hard to recruit more doctors, nurses and midwives to fill vacancies at all of our hospitals including Fairfield General Hospital in Bury,” he said.

“This is better for continuity of patient care and helps to reduce our reliance on expensive temporary locum agency staff.”

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is currently running recruitment campaigns to strengthen its workforce and recruit more permanent nursing staff, midwives and doctors.