A HOSPITAL trust is hiring agency workers for long periods of time, an investigation has revealed.

Data shows there were 118 agency staff working continuously at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) for 12 months, as of May 2018.

Agency workers tend to be costly and can expect higher rates of pay and greater flexibility about when they work.

Nationally, thousands of NHS staff are working on agency contracts for more than a year at a time, according to the data gathered by the Labour Party from Freedom of Information requests to hospital trusts.

Official figures show the NHS has spent an average of £2.8bn a year on agency staff since 2012, with hospitals trying to plug the gap from high vacancy numbers.

Russ McLean, East Lancashire’s patients’ champion, blamed problems trusts have recruiting staff.

He said: “Like every other trust, they’re struggling to recruit staff such as nurses.

“I’m not happy that such huge amounts of money are being spent on agency staff nationally that could be better spent on frontline resources in the NHS.”

Justin Madders, Labour’s shadow health minister, blamed the government’s ‘disastrous inability’ to plan the NHS workforce.

But Kevin Moynes, director of human resources and organisational development for the trust, said that many of the 118 agency staff work as little as one shift per month.

Mr Moynes said that only a handful of highly specialised medical staff are employed on a long term agency contract.

He said: “Since the NHS introduced a pay cap on temporary agency workers in 2015, we have reduced our agency staff spending, money that is now reinvested into patient care.

“The majority of agency staff choose to work through a recruitment agency because it suits the individual to pick and choose the days and times they are available to work.

“There is no evidence that agency staff who do work at East Lancashire Hospitals do so because they are unable to get permanent employment with the trust.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The latest available figures show the NHS spent over £525million less on agency staff in 2017/18 compared to the previous year.

“We are listening to staff and are encouraging flexible working, boosting training places and have given over a million NHS employees a well-deserved pay rise.”