NHS agency pay caps breached more than 50,000 times a week

More than 50,000 times a week UK hospitals are breaching rules on the amount they can pay agency staff, sometimes 150% above the normal pay rate for junior doctors and 100% for some clinical staff. This is, in part, because hospital trusts can breach caps where patient safety is a risk. The Royal College of Nursing says agency cap breaches are reflective of the scale of the NHS’s workforce problems, but noted that the system is focussed on putting patient safety ahead of sticking to the pay cap.