Locum doctor paid £195 an hour at Russells Hall Hospital
A locum doctor at a Black Country hospital was paid nearly £200 an hour, it has been revealed.
The doctor earned a staggering £195 an hour when he was brought in as cover for a week at Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital.
It comes as it was revealed spending on locum doctors by NHS trusts in the West Midlands doubled in the space of four years.
Andrew McMenemy, director of workforce at the Dudley Group NHS Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital, conceded the rate of pay was ‘extremely high’ but stressed the decision would only be taken in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Figures showed reliance on agency staff at West Midlands hospitals had increased in recent years, with rising demand and staffing issues partly to blame.
Around £25 million was spent hiring locum doctors by seven trusts in the region in 2012/13.
The figure rose to £55 million in 2016/17.
Mr McMenemy said the Dudley Group, which was recently criticised by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission following an inspection, had taken steps to improve its process for booking agency staff, to try to ensure costs are kept to a minimum.”
He said: “It would have been done in exceptional circumstances, maintaining patient care.
“That was only for one week and since that time we’ve improved our governance procedures within the hospital regarding the booking of doctors.
“We have a meeting that takes place every week with the medical director who make a weekly determination of bookings, making sure that we keep our rates within the cap.”
However, Mr McMenemy said trusts were sometimes forced to take difficult decisions over temporary workers to ensure staffing is kept at safe levels.
He said: “It’s about spending too much money, and all NHS trusts fund locums, but it’s also about making sure what we have is the right number of medical staff to meet the clinical demands.
“We would never compromise patient safety,” he said. “If we have to, as a last resort, we book agency.”
Dudley NHS Trust chiefs said agency expenditure had dropped by 10 per cent between 2016 and 2018.
The latest figures on temporary workers come after it was revealed last year a consultant at Russells Hall Hospital was paid £3,608 for a single shift.
Meanwhile, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell General and Birmingham’s City Hospital, shelled out £21.3 million on agency workers between April 2016 and February 2017.
