AGENCY staffing costs within Dorset’s biggest NHS trust fell by a third last year.

Dorset HealthCare, which runs mental health services and manages the county’s community hospitals, spent £4,183,000 in agency costs in 2017/18 compared to more than £6m the previous year.

In a report produced ahead of next week’s meeting of the trust’s board, the reasons for the reduction is due to it being able to increase the size of its workforce and its use of bank staff.

It says: “Challenges to recruiting staff in some service areas continued throughout 2017/18 although the trust managed to increase its workforce.

“This, together with the increased use of bank staff, resulted in the agency expenditure going down from £6m in 2016/17 to £4m.”