Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent on agency (a) doctors and (b) nurses by (i) North Middlesex University NHS Trust and (ii) Royal Free London NHS Trust in each of the last five years.

This information is not collected centrally.

The hon. Member may wish to contact North Middlesex University Hospitals NHS Trust directly for further information.

I have written to Dominic Dodd, Chair of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, informing him of the hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Following the Francis report many trusts increased their spend on temporary staffing to meet safe staffing levels. The Department expects trusts to have a strong grip on their finances, and manage their contract and agency staffing spend (including use of locums) responsibly through effective and efficient workforce planning and management and to minimise temporary staffing costs in future years.