A new report from NHS England finds a strong relationship between levels of staff engagement and spending on temporary staff by NHS trusts. Based on research I carried out with colleagues from the University of Sheffield, the report shows that high levels of staff engagement are associated with low rates of staff sickness absence and therefore lower spending on bank and agency staff. The size of the effect is large: an average upward shift of only 0.12 on scores on a five-point scale of staff engagement is associated with a saving on agency/bank staff spend of £1.7 million.