HSE bill for agency staff up tenfold

SOME of the country’s largest rural and regional hospitals are set to spend up to 10 times more on agency workers to fill staff gaps this year than in 2005.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show that, despite official plans to reduce spending on agency workers, costs continued to rise steadily in the first three months of 2011.

According to Freedom of Information Act documents, between January and March hospitals such as Cork University Hospital (CUH), Cavan General, Kerry General, Waterford Regional and Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda witnessed significant agency worker cost increases.