Agency staff are being offered £40 an hour to break today's strike by nurses, in a move that sparked fury.
As ministers refuse to budge on pay, RCN chief Pat Cullen accused them of spending “billions on short-sighted measures rather than investing in nursing wages”.
One recruitment firm is offering £40 an hour to cross NHS picket lines, as a two-day walkout begins.
And temps are being told they do not even have to provide proof of their qualifications for the bumper pay rate.
Figures show the NHS in England handed £3billion to agencies to provide doctors and nurses at short notice last year, up 20% on 2021.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said the decision to bring in locums on expensive rates showed hospital staff “a complete lack of respect”.
She said: “The Government would rather spend billions on short-sighted measures [such as agency cover] rather than investing in nursing staff pay.
“Nurses deserve a wage that is reflective of their skill and not left scrambling to make ends meet.
“It is in the Government’s power to deliver this.”
In an email seen by the Mirror, recruitment agency Your World Healthcare, which provides temps to the NHS, said Registered General Nurses were “urgently required” for shifts at York Hospital during the strikes.
The message revealed there was a “fast track compliance” process so the only documents required were an application form, passport, CV, criminal records check and one proof of address.
The most common grade for NHS nurses is Band Five. They get between £13.84 and £16.84 an hour.
NHS educator Sarah Dykes, who qualified as a nurse in 1992, told how NHS ward staff feel “overworked and under-valued” by the Government when they work alongside better-paid agency colleagues.
The 51-year-old, of Leeds, also said she fears the exodus of NHS staff will continue unless No10 meet their pay demands. She added: “We all want fairness and some staff feel that they would be better off working for an agency.
“It feels to me like a sinking ship and sometimes wards cannot operate safely. That puts patients at risk.
“I go on the wards and I’ve seen a lot of nurses cry because they feel frustrated. I think they think the only way out is to leave the profession they love. These strikes are not going to go away. I think more staff will leave.”
Sarah, who works at Leeds General Infirmary, said wards are so short-staff she has to sometimes help out.
Nurses at more than 55 trusts will be on strike. Thousands of operations and appointments are expected to be cancelled, with the service expected to run a bank holiday-style service in many areas.
The RCN has agreed to staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric ICU.
NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor on Tuesday night pleaded with ministers to resolve the pay dispute “for the benefit of patients”.
He said: “We’re now in the sixth week since strike action began and appear no closer to a solution.
“Our message to the Government is to give the NHS a fighting chance and do all you can to bring an end to this damaging dispute.
“The Prime Minister must not allow the stand-off in the wider public sector to hold back a deal being reached in the NHS.”
The RCN has demanded the Government consider a compromise, such as a one-off payment for staff or bringing forward a pay rise planned for the coming year.
But Health Secretary Steve Barclay has failed to reach an agreement with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on the move.
An Ipsos poll on Tuesday night showed 57% of people believe the Government is to blame for the pay dispute going on for so long, while just 9% said it was the fault of nurses.
Your World Healthcare declined to comment on the £40 an hour offer for agency staff.
Yorkshire and Scarborough NHS Teaching Hospitals, which runs York Hospital, on Tuesday night claimed it had nothing to do with the advert.
A spokesman said: “This is not a post or advert from the Trust and we do not recognise the rates or shifts described in this post.
“Our current bank rates were set in November as part of our winter plan and have not been altered as a result of industrial action.”
