NHS: Agency Medical Staff

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am not sure about something that specific. Our whole emphasis is to end spending on agency staff, but patient safety has to come first. That is why we still have some use of agency staff, and where we need temporary staff, using the NHS staff bank, we can call on a pool of healthcare workers who are more established to directly fill temporary shifts. I would not say there is an allocation to what is described as corridor care, because we are also driving it down.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords—

[Lord McColl of Dulwich (Con)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, there has not yet been a Labour question during this Question. It will be Labour then the Conservative Benches, please.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that health trusts could do a lot more than they do at the moment to offer flexible hours for nurses and other medical staff? I have known of many cases where nurses, for example, have tried to get flexible hours and, having been refused, then end up coming back as agency staff.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The key theme my noble friend is raising here is very much about staff retention within the NHS. That is not only the ideal but the practical, best way forward. We are taking action, including, as my noble friend talks about, on flexible working. We are also taking action to make staff feel safer in the workplace, enhancing support for staff health and well-being by, for example, improving access to support for mental health and musculoskeletal conditions. They are the two biggest causes of sickness absence, which also drive demand for temporary cover.