Hospitals are shelling out hundreds of kilos to “rip-off agencies” cashing in on a scarcity of midwives, Labour has claimed.

The occasion’s evaluation of information from 86 NHS trusts in England confirmed they spent greater than £96 million on company and financial institution midwives in 2022/23.

Spending had risen yearly since 2018 as hospitals plugged gaps amid continual employees shortages.

Wye Valley NHS belief reported paying £2,024 for a single shift. This was final minute cowl for a essential senior midwifery position at quick discover on a Bank Holiday weekend, it mentioned in an announcement.

The belief added: “We keep the use of agency staff in midwifery to a minimum.”

Overall one in three trusts admitted they'd paid a short lived employee over £1,000.

The information was obtained by Labour via Freedom of Information requests.

Writing within the Daily Express right this moment, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting blasts ministers for failing to coach sufficient docs, nurses and midwives.

He warns that money-grabbing companies are “cashing in on the crisis in the NHS” whereas providers undergo.

Shadow Health Minister Karin Smyth MP mentioned: “The Conservatives have failed to train enough midwives over the past 13 years, leaving the NHS at the mercy of rip-off recruitment agencies.

“Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being leached out of the health service, while pregnant mothers are turned away from maternity units due to a lack of midwives. Labour will train the midwives that the NHS needs to give mothers and babies the care they deserve.”

The Royal College of Midwives estimates that the NHS in England has a shortfall of two,500 midwives. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, unveiled in June, set out plans to extend the variety of individuals beginning midwifery coaching from 2,715 in 2018/19 to 4,270 in 2023/24.

Danny Mortimer, chief govt of NHS Employers, mentioned spending on company employees was “a knotty problem for the NHS”.

Employers would moderately spend money on long-term workforce growth however are compelled to pay extra to fill rota gaps, he mentioned.

Mr Mortimer added that the enlargement of coaching locations would assist, however “this will take time to come to fruition and we might see agency spend increase temporarily as the workforce is developed, before a drop in the long term”.

Sally Ashton May, director for midwifery coverage and follow at The Royal College of Midwives, mentioned motion was additionally wanted to enhance retention and retain the expert employees already within the NHS.

She added: “Only if both these things happen will we address the acute and chronic shortage of midwives working in the NHS. We have shared our solutions with the Government – and the Opposition – and we are more than willing to work with them to achieve this.”

Minister for girls Maria Caulfield MP mentioned: “We are training more than twice as many nurses and midwives through our NHS Long Term Workforce Plan than Labour pledged they could deliver – Sir Keir Starmer has simply given up on our NHS.

“Where Labour are in power, their NHS record is clear: billions of pounds wasted, lower productivity and longer waits for treatment. Our NHS cannot risk a Labour government.

“Meanwhile, we have overseen record numbers of training places for midwives, launched our three-year plan for maternity and neonatal services, and are investing £165 million to improve maternity services.”