Local health services are using more agency staff, with millions being spent on them, Montgomeryshire AM Russell George has claimed.
The amount the Welsh NHS spends on agency staff has gone up by 171% since 2010-11 and the Teaching Health Board in Powys is still having to spend millions on agency staff to supplement its full-time workforce.
According to a report from the Wales Audit Office (WAO), £135.7m was used on agency expenditure in Wales in 2017-18.
Powys Teaching Health Board, Hywel Dda and Cwm Taf allocated the highest proportion of their overall spend (6.2%) to paying agency staff, the report states.
It has been highlighted
"One problem noted to have exacerbated the situation is the rates of agency pay, the rise of which has been fuelled by competition between health boards in their desperation to make up the staffing shortfall," said Mr George.
“We are facing
“The problem is particularly chronic in rural Mid Wales and this growing dependency on agency staff shows that the NHS in Wales is in an unsustainable state and it is the Welsh Government who must take responsibility for this.”