NURSES’ leaders revealed today that the current 2,000 registered nurse vacancies in NHS Wales cost the service £142 million in agency cover. 

The Royal College of Nurses (RCN) Cymru published its 2024 edition of Nursing in Numbers — its flagship report on the state of the nursing workforce in Wales — revealing that NHS Wales health boards have 2,000 registered nurse vacancies in 2024.

RCN said the vacancies increase NHS Wales’s reliance on temporary agency staff, which cost taxpayers £142m in 2023-24.