A recruitment agency owned by a Canadian private equity billionaire charged NHS trusts more than four times the approved rate to supply nurses at the height of the pandemic. Thornbury Nursing Services billed £170.61 an hour to provide intensive care nurses in December, equivalent to £2,047.32 for a 12-hour shift — more than most nurses earn in a month. The rate was paid by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust for a “band five” intensive care nurse. SponsoredThe agency’s ultimate owner, Gerald Schwartz, 79, is a Canadian financier and philanthropist who throws elaborate parties at his £16 million Toronto mansion, nicknamed Fort Schwartz. According to Thornbury’s rate cards, specialist nurses in intensive care take home a maximum of £86 an hour, leaving £84.61 an hour for

Source: The Times March 28, 2021 00:00 UTC