Jersey spend over £2million a year on locum doctors

New figures show that an average of £2.4 million pounds is spent on locum doctors in Jersey every year.

The steady expenditure comes despite a decrease in the number of temporary doctors working in the island since 2014.

The figures come from an FOI submitted to the States of Jersey.

It suggests that just under £24 million was spent on locum doctors over the last ten years.

Data shows that expenditure peaked at around £3.373m in 2011.

£2.73 million was dished out for locum doctors/consultants in 2016.

The largest costs came from hiring consultant doctors.

The expenditure comes despite a decrease in the number of locum doctors in the last two years.

Another FOI shows that the numbers of temporary staff have steadily dropped since 2014.

But the Hospital Managing Director says spending on temporary staff will not change.

She says locum doctors are needed to cover staff holidays and sickness at the hospital.