OHE Lunchtime Seminar: NHS Agency Staffing and the Impact of Recent Interventions

On Friday 6th October 2017, Chris Mullin, Chief Economist at the Department of Health, will lead an OHE Lunchtime Seminar on the topic of: NHS agency staffing and the impact of recent interventions.

On Friday 6th October 2017, Chris Mullin, Chief Economist at the Department of Health, will lead an OHE Lunchtime Seminar on the topic of: NHS agency staffing and the impact of recent interventions.

Temporary agency staffing has been a major area of focus for the NHS in England over the last five years. In the context of the financial challenges across the NHS provider sector, the spotlight fell on the sharp increase in agency expenditure, which by 2014/15 had reached over £3 billion.

In November 2015, NHS Improvement stepped in and introduced national price caps on the rates NHS providers could pay for individual agency shifts. This was a novel approach, not without controversy from an economics perspective given experiences from other sectors and uncertainty over what the implications on staffing would be.

At the same time, rules were introduced that required providers to procure agency staff through approved frameworks, which were retendered to align to the price caps, and financial targets were introduced on providers’ annual expenditure on agency staff. NHS Improvement also targeted dedicated improvement support on agency staffing and workforce management.

In this seminar, Chris Mullin will consider the economics of the NHS agency market, the incentives facing the agents involved and how the design of these interventions sought to address market imperfections and minimise the risk of supply shortages. He will then reflect upon the impact to date of the measures and what lessons might be drawn for the future, both for health and other sectors facing similar issues.

Chris Mullin has been Chief Economist and Director of Analysis at the Department of Health since January 2017. He was previously Director of Policy and Economics at NHS Improvement and has held senior positions, implementing reforms in health and other public services, at HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.

View the full seminar invite here.

The seminar will be held in the Sir Alexander Fleming Board Room, 7th Floor, 105 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QT. A buffet lunch will be available from 12:00 pm. The seminar will start promptly at 12.30 pm and finish promptly at 2.00 pm.

Prior registration is required. Please click here to register.

Webinar facilities will be available for this lunchtime seminar, registration is needed, please contact Kerry Sheppard (ksheppard@ohe.org) if you wish to join.  Details of the webinar will be sent out closer to the event date.