Cost of agency staff to Mayo University Hospital is revealed

Mayo University Hospital spent over €7.5m on agency staff in 2023 and has spent a further €4.4m in the first seven months of 2024, the HSE West has revealed.

Members of the HSE West Forum were told that €7,565,718.66 had been expended in 2023 and €4,415,878.79 so far this year. Had the staff been directly employed by the HSE, these figures would stand at €5.4m and €3.2m respectively, amounting to €8.6m compared to the €12m that has been spent.

In addition to MUH, agency staff were also employed at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Castlebar. John Fitzmaurice, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare West, said 18 agency staff were used at a total cost of €1,082,000 in 2023, while €706,000 has been spent so far in 2024.

“In order to maintain safe staffing levels with the Community Nursing Unit, agency staff are deployed to cover approved vacant posts and other approved leave types/short-term absences/outbreaks," said Mr Fitzmaurice.

Ann Cosgrove, Interim CEO, Saolta University Health Care Group, noted: “Please be advised that consultant costs make up 37.5% of the overall agency spend in 2023 and 50.2% of the overall agency spend for 2024. The detail required for MUH agency staff will be provided by separate cover as it is unavailable at [this] time.

“Agency workers were hired to cover short-term needs such as filling in for shifts or covering employees on leave. This flexibility allows each of the services to maintain operational continuity without long-term commitments. However, a small percentage of agency workers are used for full-time cover. This is typically due to ongoing skill shortages, project-based work, or the need for specialised expertise that isn’t readily available in the permanent workforce. Employing agency workers full-time can also offer services the ability to adapt quickly to fluctuating demands without the costs or obligations associated with permanent hires.” 

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who sought the information, pointed out that MUH had spent several million extra on agency staff compared to what it would have cost to employ staff directly.

“Somebody is on a winner; it is certainly not the staff but whoever is supplying the staff. I suggest it is a very lucrative career to supply staff to the HSE.” 

Regional Executive Officer Tony Canavan replied: “We have an over-reliance on agency staffing, there is no argument on that, in relation to hospital nurses and medical doctors. There is also an active scheme of conversion of those agency staff so we can make some of those savings. However, there always will be some agency usage for short term or difficult-to-fill posts but definitely, we are using more agency than we are happy with and I agree it is very expensive.”