MORE than £16m of taxpayers’ cash is being spent on hospital locums by an NHS trust, a Freedom of Information request revealed.
The trust responsible for Copeland’s main hospital has trebled its spending on agency staff in just three years because of the “recruitment crisis” at West Cumberland Hospital.
“Shocking” figures obtained by Copeland Labour MP Jamie Reed exposed North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust plans to spend a whopping £16.5m in the financial year 2014/15 – up from £5.69m in 2011/12.