Agency charged £1,000 a shift

One of the agencies cashing in on the ward staff shortage was found to be charging hospitals £1,000 a shift.

An Evening Standard investigation more than a year ago showed how hospitals had no choice but to pay double normal rates to Thornbury Nursing Services.

Union officials accused it and other firms of "bleeding the NHS dry" but it remains in business and continues to supply hospitals across London and the South.

Its ability to pay the best-qualified nurses up to £58 an hour has attracted about 5,000 on to its books, partly fuelling the staff difficulties faced by managers.

About 30 per cent of the fee is its commission. Such was the profit made by Thornbury that its founders, John and Moira Sloss, sold it and a sister firm that operated in Scotland for an estimated £45million.