Petition to stop NHS from sleepwalking into a worse than usual winter crisis

A petition calling on the government to stop its plan to ban flexible agency staff from working for the NHS is gaining momentum with thousands of signatures – and messages of support posted from anxious health staff and other signatories.

The Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting announced strict agency spending limits last November and ordered trusts to reduce their spending on agency staff by 30% in the short term. He claimed the savings will mean more money reinvested in the frontline and the wider NHS workforce. Wes Streeting went further this summer by stating an ambition to eliminate the deployment of staff working through agencies altogether by the end of this government’s term of office. The government thinks it can manage the fallout, partly because they plan to hire back these very same people via staffing banks – often comparatively more expensive than agencies.

REC Deputy Chief Executive Kate Shoesmith said:

“We are in a race against time to safeguard NHS workers’ rights to work flexibly through agencies  and ensure there are enough nurses, doctors and support staff, for the winter peak in demand for healthcare.

“The ban on agency working is a hammer blow to thousands of NHS staff who rely on flexible work to balance caring responsibilities, health issues or education. Temporary work is a vital part of today’s labour market as a whole, and health is no exception. Agency staff help keep services running, especially in peak periods and amid worker shortages, and at a price that provides taxpayer value for money.

“We are deeply disappointed the Department of Health and Social Care has refused serious talks with talent and staffing firms to discuss these plans. The government is naïve if it thinks that all agency workers will transfer over to work in permanent positions and staffing levels will remain the same. If they had answered one of our many calls to work with them on a strategic workforce plan, they would be given the reality check they need. Instead, political ideology has prevented the government from a proper partnership that could have served the public much better. Everybody knows the NHS needs more people willing to work for it – and contingent labour has kept things going.”

The new petition is titled ‘Help protect agency work in the NHS’. It is part of a Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) campaign to get the government to rethink its objective and pace to end agency use. The petition has achieved more than 3,500 signatures in just two weeks. As well as urging people to sign the petition, the REC is suggesting members of the public write to their MP to express their concerns about the policy.

As well as the petition, the REC has separately made the DHSC, NHS England, framework providers and NHS Professionals aware of its concerns about this policy and the lack of consultation with stakeholders. REC is asking the DHSC to:

• Publish a detailed plan and timeline for the future of agency working in the NHS.
• Share any directives that it or NHS England have issued to Trusts in relation to this policy. 
• Advise us of any legal counsel has been taken by the Secretary of State or associated parties regarding the fact that a non-competitive public procurement system is being created. 
• Share any impact assessments that have been undertaken on the potential impact of this extraction of staff on patient care and the overall cost it will add to the NHS.

Kate Shoesmith said:

“The government misleads the public when it suggests that staffing banks cost less than agency workers or that the NHS can eliminate agency staff while still reducing backlogs and maintaining safe staffing levels. If leaders view public-private partnerships as vital in other parts of the NHS, then they must also include workforce provision, which underpins the delivery of these plans.”

Notes to editors

1.     Stop the government's plan to ban flexible agency staff from working for the NHS – sign the petition.

2.     In a survey of 520 temp agency workers (not just healthcare workers) in Britain in June 2024, published as part of REC’s Voice of the Worker campaign, almost eight in 10 temp agency workers (79%) say their work provides an important need for flexibility and more than two thirds of temp agency workers (68%) say that their work provides a greater work-life balance.

3.     Among the comments on the petition page are (anonymized):

‘Flexible working gives an opportunity for people with children to work. It also allows the retirees who still want to work to exercise their experience.’

‘NHS has a chronic shortage of nursing staff, it seriously affects the operation theatres resulting in cancellation of booked surgeries for patients. This means more waiting times for sick people and more pain for those kind of conditions.’

‘Flexibility is essential, but so is patient safety, especially during staffing shortages. The solution is to continue using agency staff and for the NHS to work collaboratively with agencies to ensure safe, consistent care.’

‘When there is a Major Incident declared, such as an aeroplane crash, a multiple pileup on a Motorway, a train crash or a terrorist attack, the NHS Trusts need to be able to call on agency staff to help provide the care and assistance needed, both on the day of the emergency, and in the weeks and months afterwards as they seek to care and assist the injured. This will affect the NHS Trust's ability to provide that care, both short term and long term.’

‘Agency nurses play a very important role in NHS. Without them patients will suffer and the permanent nurses will have burn out.’

‘Flexible Agency Staff help to relieve ‘burnt-out’ NHS workers and improves the safety of patients and staff alike.’

‘This policy is a weak by the government. I depend on the agency for a job. I don't want to go back to depend on universal credit anymore.’

‘The issue has been causing a lot of problems in my home since last year. It has affected my responsibilities towards my family.’

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