Nurses’ outrage over proposed bans on agency shifts has forced the NHS to announce a ‘pause’ on their plans.
Plans set out by NHS Improvement would have prevented nurses who have a substantial contract with an NHS Trust to take up extra shifts with their or any other trust through an agency. They would instead have to pick up shifts through staff banks and overtime.
Staff, backed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), immediately blasted the proposals as ‘unfair’, insisting it is a nurses right to decide what arrangements they make for any extra working hours they take up.
NHS Improvement has now announced it will put a pause on the plans, which were set to be enforced from 1 April.
An NHS Improvement spokesperson said: ‘Following feedback from nurses about our latest agency rules on substantive staff, we've clarified our rules. Until further notice, we're pausing our instruction that providers should ensure staff employed through an agency are not substantively employed elsewhere in the NHS.’
The RCN made representations to NHS Improvement over its opposition to the plans and encouraged nurses to make their own opposition known through the same channels. Many took to social media to make their outrage public.
‘This was an ill-conceived plan by NHS Improvement and today’s U-turn will be welcomed by nursing staff across the country,’ said RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Janet Davies.