BETSI Cadwaladr Health Board needs to slash spending on agency staff to help balance its budget, the board’s finance director has said.

Figures from the 2016/17 financial year show that the board saw an increase of almost £8m in spending on agency staff from the 2015/16 year with Russell Favager, the finance director, insisting that senior board executives are looking at how to cut the amount of money spent on agency staff as the board looks to make over £30m of savings in the next financial year.

The health board had estimated that it would overspend by £30m in 2016/17, but early figures at the end of the financial year show that the total overspend ended up at £29.8m.

But Mr Favager’s report to the May meeting of the board said agency costs were still a concern.

He said: “Agency costs remain a key area of overspend compared to substantive budgeted posts and total agency costs for March were £4.6m.

“Medical agency costs in March were £2.7m which is a month-on-month deterioration of £500,000 and above the £2.5m year to date average.

“Significant efforts are being made to reduce reliance on medical agency and this improvement will continue to be closely monitored.

“Agency nursing expenditure in month was £1.1m which is an in-month deterioration of £100,000 and represents a significant increase from an average of £500,000 per month in 2015/16.

“The in-year increase reflects pressures in relation to escalation beds, unscheduled care settings and recruitment and retention issues.

“Other agency costs of £800,000 were incurred in-month in respect of allied healthcare professionals and other staff.

“The agency costs for 2016/17 were £45m compared to £37.4m for 2015/16.

"Significant management action is being taken to analyse agency usage and associated costs to identify options for reducing rates and more effectively utilising agency staff. This will be a key theme for 2017/18.”

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