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27
Sept 2023
Harrogate hospital spends nearly £1 million on staff cover for strikes
Harrogate District Hospital has spent £923,000 on staff cover for industrial action since April.
The hospital has been hit by numerous strikes in the last five months, with consultants and junior doctors staging walkouts in disputes over pay.
In a report due before a trust board meeting today, Jonathan Coulter, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said a “significant cost” had been spent covering for striking staff members.
In total, between April 1 and August 31, the trust spent £923,000 on bank and internal staff to cover for junior doctors and consultants.
Bank staff are temporary workers who agree to work flexible shifts with a hospital trust. Some trusts keep a record of their own bank staff to call upon for shifts.
The trust said no agency workers were used to cover staffing during the strikes.
The Stray Ferret asked the trust how it intended to recoup the money spent during the industrial action.
A spokesperson for the trust said:
It comes as both junior doctors and consultants are set to carry out further walkouts in October.
Members of the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association and British Medical Association will strike from 7am on Monday, October 2, until 7am on Thursday, October 5.
In his report, Mr Coulter said it was important to remember staff were in dispute with the government, not the hospital trust.
He added:
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