In January 2006 the BBC reported NHS trust debts of £1.07 billion in England (BBC 2006a). In April 2006 it reported that 7,000 job losses had already been confirmed (BBC 2006b) – although this figure could rise to as many as 13,000. Clarke (2006) identifies that many hospitals are now reducing their use of agency staff as one method of controlling unfunded expenditure. This makes economic sense: Clarke (2004) reported that the 2003–4 spend on agency staff for the whole of the UK was £1.64 billion.
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