Almost £2bn spent on temporary nurses and midwives over five years

The Scottish Government has been accused of taking a “sticking plaster” approach to health staffing after analysis found nearly £2 billion has been spent on agency and bank nurses and midwives over the last five years.

Scottish Labour analysis of NHS workforce data found that between April 2020 and March this year £1,904,286,884 was spent on such temporary staff.

The spending was across all of Scotland’s 14 health boards, as well as specialist services including NHS 24, the Scottish Ambulance Service, the State Hospital and the National Waiting Times Centre.

The bill rose from £235,881,479 in the year ending March 31, 2021 to a height of £489,997,556 in the year to March 31, 2024 before falling in 2025, according to the analysis.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Dame Jackie Baillie called for a long-term solution.

She said: “The SNP has spent almost two decades mismanaging our health service, opting for short-term fixes, rather than coming up with a solution to address long-term challenges.

“The use of temporary staff is an expensive sticking plaster and cannot be a substitute for a proper plan aimed at tackling the significant problems facing the NHS.

“This is an unsustainable way of managing our health service and ministers must listen to calls for a workforce plan to meet recruitment needs.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “NHS Scotland’s overall workforce, including nursing and midwifery staffing, has increased over the last year, whilst the latest workforce statistics show a 62% reduction in nurse agency usage and spend across 2024/25, decreasing for the second year in a row.

“These figures show the progress being made to reduce NHS Scotland’s reliance on agency workers and focus resources on frontline services, which has enabled boards to reinvest upwards of £94 million in the delivery of those services most valued by the Scottish public.

“The use of temporary staff in an organisation as large and complex as NHS Scotland will always be required to ensure vital service provision during times of unplanned absence, sickness or increased activity.”