Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussion he has had with NHS hospitals in England on the matter of hospitals having to pay higher fees for agency workers due to additional two bank holidays this year.

The Secretary of State has not had discussions on this matter. Agency price caps for bank holidays are capped at Sunday rates. We know that National Health Service trusts that pay enhancements on bank holidays, for both substantive and bank employees, attract more staff, meaning most shifts are filled before agencies are approached. NHS trusts use workforce optimisation tools such as the use of e-rostering and e-job planning to allow the NHS to efficiently schedule staff rotas around public holidays.