A WHOPPING £29million has been spent on agency staff by Southend Hospital in the past four years, the Echo can reveal.
The figure, released to the Echo under Freedom of Information laws, shows the hospital spent £4.19million on locums last year alone, up £1.34million on the previous year, while spending on agency nurses was up a quarter to £1.95million last year.
The hospital is now spending £1million a month on agency staff which has led to the £29million spend since 2010/11.
Reported by the Southend Standard. You can read the full story here.