SPENDING on agency nurses by two local health trusts has doubled due to a “payday loan attitudes towards workforce planning”, a report has warned.

Figures for last summer show Airedale NHS Foundation Trust’s agency staffing costs were up by 67 per cent compared to two years ago, with Bradford District Care Trust - which delivers mental health services - spending 49 per cent more.

The Royal College of Nursing, which revealed the figures on Thursday, expressed concern that workforce cuts, cuts to nurse training places, years of pay restraint and attacks on terms and conditions had 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 more than £10 million by April, if it went on rising at a similar rate.

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

Karl Norwood, operational manager for the RCN in Yorkshire and the Humber, 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 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.

“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.”

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

And spending on agency nurses at Bradford District Care Trust totalled £1,023,000 last summer, up 49 per cent from £685,000 in the same period in 2012.

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.”

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 for inpatient wards.

She said: “When an individual’s mental health is severe they may require specialist mental health nursing, such as one-to-one support. This is by its nature 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.”

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