NHS: Agency Workers
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent on agency staff by employment type in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth
Temporary staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS England publishes the total agency spend for providers on a quarterly basis. This includes all employment types, as NHS England does not hold a split of spend by employment types. The latest data is available up to September 2025 which can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publications/financial-performance-reports/
In addition, the following table shows total agency spend each year for the last five years
Quarter 2 2025/26 (3 months July 25 to September 25) | £674 million |
Quarter 1 2025/26 (3 months April 25 to June 25) | £360 million |
Quarter 4 2024/25 (12 months April 24 to March 25) | £2,074 million |
Quarter 4 2023/24 (12 months April 23 to March 24) | £3,024 million |
Quarter 4 2022/23 (12 months April 22 to March 23) | £3,463 million |
Quarter 4 2021/22 (12 months April 21 to March 22) | £2,960 million |
Quarter 4 2020/21 (12 months April 20 to March 21) | £2,436 million |
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