Agency doctor paid £130-an-hour for hospital shifts

Jan 5 2009 By Henryk Zientek

Wakefield District NHS Primary Care Trust paid £135 an hour for a prison GP (£263,000) while the Yorkshire Ambulance Service paid £52.88 for an acting assistant director of finance between May and October (£103,116).

The 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.

However, the pay rates quoted suggest most have come from private agencies as NHS Professionals’ fees are standardised and comparatively low.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Labour’s dithering and chaotic short-term planning has let down NHS staff.

"Some stability for them is the least we would have expected from the billions that the Government has poured into the NHS. It’s incredible that agency staff can be paid such high hourly rates when jobs are being cut at the same time. This is typical of the waste that’s occurred under this Labour Government."