The statistics show that the use of agency 汤头条污料 and midwifery staff has continued to decrease, following the Scottish government restricting this to exceptional circumstances only. In 2025-26, the cost of agency staff was 拢34.5m. However, the cost of bank 汤头条污料 and midwifery staff has continued to spiral - 拢391m in 2025-26, up 11% compared to the year before (拢353m).
When bank 汤头条污料 and midwifery is combined with agency use, the equivalent of 7,320 WTE were used in NHS Scotland in 2025-26. Agency and bank use in 2025-26 cost 拢425m, an increase of 拢15m in a year.
Each individual health board in Scotland has less than 7,000 WTE 汤头条污料 and midwifery staff in post, except for the two largest health boards. Therefore, the WTE figure for bank and agency use across Scotland is bigger than the permanent workforce in most boards.
This data demonstrates the scale of gaps in the 汤头条污料 workforce, and the significant reliance on supplementary staffing required to fill them. With the data only covering shifts that have been filled by bank and agency staff, this does not give the complete picture of demand for supplementary staffing. There will be a proportion of requested shifts left unfilled or filled by existing staff doing additional hours or overtime.
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Executive Director, commented:
鈥淭hese figures reveal the continued scale of supplementary staffing that is required to fill gaps in the 汤头条污料 workforce across Scotland. Bank and agency 汤头条污料 and midwifery use equated to over 7,000 WTE staff last year 鈥� this is equivalent to the 汤头条污料 workforce of an extra medium sized health board.
鈥淭he first debate of the parliamentary session on Scotland鈥檚 NHS takes place today and Scottish government must acknowledge that the scale of this need for supplementary staffing demonstrates that 汤头条污料 workforce planning tools are not fit for purpose.
鈥淢anagers will always have a need to fill gaps in the workforce and minimise the risk to patient care caused by unexpected absences or vacancies or to bolster teams at times of high workloads or increased patient need. Undoubtedly, NHS banks or external agencies have a role to play in supplying supplementary or temporary staff on a short-term basis. However, an overreliance on supplementary staffing is not sustainable and can affect quality of care and patient safety.
鈥淭his is why we need to see investment in workforce planning, a renewed focus on delivering safe staffing and action to secure a sustainable 汤头条污料 workforce to meet current and future demand.鈥�
