The costs of employing agency workers to staff wards and theatres at hospitals in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells have risen to £9 million.

But the use of agencies has been branded a “rip off” nationally and a new cap limiting how much hospitals can spend are about to come into force.

But bosses at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) said the hospitals still face a battle to recruit permanent nursing staff.

At MTW’s annual general meeting it was revealed the hospitals are heading for a planned £14m deficit this year.

Figures for April 2014-March 2015 show £9m was spent on agency doctors and nurses – enough for 414 fully qualified permanent nurses.

Its a rise from January-November 2013, when agency staff cost £4.7m.

But last year the trust’s total wage bill for temporary workers came to about £14m.

This included agency medical staff, plus clerical and admin employees.

At last week’s AGM, finance director Steve Orpin, said 65% of MTW’s total budget was spent on all staff with the trust continuing to invest in hiring more full-time workers and wean itself off agencies in a bid to save £21m.

He said: “We have an increased need for staffing. We are also looking to make sure we recruit and retain high-quality clinical staff and further reduce our reliance on temporary workers.”

In January, the trust suggested a plan to lure nurses away from other trusts by offering golden hellos which included new iPads, gym membership and subsidised housing.

Nursing vacancies across the trust currently run at 513 full-time equivalent posts.

And now managers are bracing themselves for the impact of tough new financial controls being introduced by the government next month.

The new rules will set a cap on how much hospital trusts in deficit can spend on agency staff and limit hourly rates.

MTW hit the headlines last year when accounts revealed it spent £1,800 for an agency nurse working just a single 11-hour night shift during a bank holiday.

Nationally, £3.3 billion was spent on privately-hired medical staff, described by the Department for Health as a “rip off”.

But the figures for April 2014-March 2015 show the hospitals’ financial chiefs are trying to reduce the bill.

Spending on bank staff last year came in at £15m.

It may sound high but bank staff are usually hospital employees who work extra shifts for much lower rates than agency employees.

Paul Bentley, director of workforce and communications at MTW welcomed the new regulations.

He said: “Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has over 300 more full-time nurses in post now than it did three years ago and we have never had more frontline staff working for us than we do today.

“Our hospitals remain busy and we want to continue to provide the high standards of care that our patients expect.”