The NHS is spending �40m a year paying private health firms to provide agency doctors to plug gaps in the health service, an MP has claimed.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Sandra Gidley said the NHS spent more than �137m last year on locums provided by agencies.

It is shocking that �40m of taxpayers' money is going into the pockets of fat cat agency bosses

Sandra Gidley

This compares to just �86m in 1997-98 when Labour first came to power.

With agencies typically charging a 30% fee, Ms Gidley has calculated that �40m has been "wasted" in fees alone.

She said: "It is shocking that �40m of taxpayers' money is going into the pockets of fat cat agency bosses.

"Last year the cost of agency doctors went through the roof."

Ms Gidley said the agencies' profits would fund around 120 new hospital beds.

Reliance

She accused Health Secretary Alan Milburn of "coming to rely on agency doctors" rather than tackling the problems of NHS recruitment and retention.

"The Audit Commission has already recommended that the use of agency locums be minimised due to reservations over their effectiveness and value for money.

"So why has the Government effectively accepted agency doctors as a fact of life?

"If ministers got to grips with the problems caused by early retirement and the lack of incentives for doctors, there would be no need to waste money on agency fees.

"The government should allow more doctors to train to be consultants and should not be plugging private initiatives at taxpayers' expense."

Government response

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We are committed to increasing capacity and treating more patients, more quickly, which means recruiting more NHS staff.

"It takes seven years to train a doctor and locums play an important and valuable role in the NHS, enabling short term flexible needs to be met.

"There are more hospital doctors and consultants in the NHS than ever before, with a record 4,700 in training.

"Over the last five years there has been a record 23% increase in consultants, bringing the total to 26,350.

"We aim to have an extra 35,000 GPs and consultants by 2008 through increasing training places, improving retention rates, encouraging returners and international recruitment initiatives."