He asked the Deputy Al Brouard how much money could be saved per year if agency staff were to be replaced by suitably qualified Guernsey residents. 

"Staff funding is complex,” said Deputy Brouard, “however, based on a detailed review in March of this year there was an overall 30% agency premium on an hour per hour basis, comparing agency hourly rates to budgeted values per hour.” 

“This was looking just at direct pay costs only.” 

He continued to say "if existing agency that we used in the first five months of the year to the end of May was directly related with permanent staff for the whole year a 30% saving would equate to approximately £4 million pounds per annum”. 

He said that having a full complement of permanent staff at HSC is highly desirable but also highly unlikely. 

"There has always been a need to recruit agency and casual workers or bank workers, as this provides a flexible way to manage workforce numbers and also to address short term skill gaps, such as the sickness and other absences." 

The question came at the tail end of a series of questions on HSC recruitment and staff retention, mainly focused on Deputy Brouard’s argument that identifying key worker housing is essential.  

“As that the 14 June 2024 there are 411 full time equivalent [FTE] vacancies across Health and Social Care from a total of 2262 budgeted[FTEs]. 

“This FTE total is made up a range of full and part time positions so as to provide flexibility in terms of recruitment. There are a range of activities that take place to fill vacancies from advertising locally and using social media to highlight vacancies with dedicated communication campaigns to address recruitment challenges in specific areas.  

“Together with recruitment roadshows. We invest in the training and development of staff through established professional pathways, including bursary schemes for a range of nursing roles and allied professionals.  

“I will take the opportunity again to say that we - the States - need to ensure that staff, both locally resident or being recruited off-island, are able to secure suitable and affordable accommodation.  

“It is a challenge which affects permanent staff and agency staff alike and it is especially frustrating when we have permanent staff willing to come and work here who cannot simply because they cannot find suitable accommodation.”