HOSPITALS in England have splurged more than £3 billion on agency nurses in the last few years, according to new data.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) gathered figures under the Freedom of Information Act from 182 NHS trusts on spending on agency nurses plus nursing staff such as assistants and support workers.

The union said every region has spent millions of pounds, which it suggested could have paid the salaries of almost 31,000 full-time nurses or trained more than 86,000 new ones.