SPENDING on agency nurses by health trusts in the Bradford district has soared by more than a quarter due to "payday loan attitude towards workforce planning", a report has warned.

Figures show that the three trusts spent 26 per cent more on agency workers last summer than they had two years earlier - and two of the organisations spent double.

But, in sharp contrast one of them - Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which runs Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's - spent half the amount that it had in July to September 2012.

The Royal College of Nursing, which revealed the figures yesterday, expressed concern that workforce cuts, cuts to nurse training places, years of pay restraint and attacks of terms and conditions have made it difficult for NHS trusts to retain and recruit staff.

In addition, the union predicted that the full year figure for Yorkshire and Humber would reach much more than £10 million by April, if it goes on rising at a similar rate.

The £980m the union forecasts will be spent nationally on agency nursing staff this financial year is enough to pay for 28,155 permanent nursing staff, it added.

In the district, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust saw its agency staffing costs rise from £166,283 for July to September in 2012 to £278,223 in the same period last summer - a jump of 67 per cent.

In addition the spend on agency nurses at Bradford District Care Trust hit more than £1m last summer, rising 49 per cent from £685,000 in 2012 to £1,023,000 in the second quarter of the last financial year.

By contrast, the figures for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, showed a drop of 50 per cent, from a high of £295,220 in the summer of 2012 to £148,964 last year.

The data was compiled following a request to acute, community, mental health and specialist NHS trusts in England by the RCN under Freedom of Information rules, which resulted in a response by 73 per cent of organisations.

Karl Norwood, operational manager for the RCN in Yorkshire and the Humber region said: “This report shows the true financial cost of a health service which takes a ‘payday loans’ attitude towards workforce planning, leaving itself at the mercy of agencies paying a high daily rate because it refused to invest sensibly in the past.

“We know that these trusts are working to ensure safe staffing levels at a time when there are more patients than ever coming through their hospital doors, but their efforts are not being supported by national spending on health.

“This has brought us to a situation where trusts are being forced to spend a large portion of their over-stretched budget on temporary nursing staff.

“The NHS is under immense pressure and it is now time for serious workforce investment and sensible, long-term workforce planning at a national level. Anything less will be selling future generations severely short.”

Rob Dearden, director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said the increased use of agency staff was due to a rise in emergency admissions.

"We always mix additional staff with regular permanent staff in the interest of safe and effective practice," he said.

“Recruiting nurses into permanent positions is becoming increasingly difficult, not just in Yorkshire but nationally, as we are all competing against other healthcare providers and the agencies themselves.

“At Airedale we are currently looking at our workforce and the skills that our permanent staff have in a hope to reduce the amount of agency staff we use in the future.”

Nicola Lees, deputy chief executive and director of nursing at Bradford District Care Trust, blamed the situation on an increase in the complexity of care it needed to provide on its inpatient wards.

She said: "When an individual’s mental health is severe they may require specialist mental health nursing, such as 1-1 support. This is by its nature is a changing requirement and needs flexibility in employment of additional staff.

“We have secured additional funding from our commissioners to support this demand and make sure we have the right level and skill mix of nursing staff to provide the best possible care to meet individual need at all times."

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which did not respond it time to the request from the RCN but provided the data to the Telegraph & Argus, had the lowest figures in the district for July to September last year and was one of the lowest in the region.

Chief Nurse Juliette Greenwood said: "Many of our staff generously offer to work the majority of additional shifts when temporary cover is needed, however we always seek to minimise the use of bank or agency staff through effective staff deployment and planning.

"For example, we amend staff rosters to maximise personnel internally and only when these options are exhausted do we look to our in-house nursing bank to fill gaps in staffing.

“Over the last three years we have taken a long-term approach to workforce planning with substantial investment in our nursing and midwifery workforce and a consistent focus on recruiting permanent members of staff. We use agency nurses infrequently and only when there is no other alternative available.”

A Department of Health spokesman also stressed the the long-term aim was to reduce the use of agency staff.