ESR/Workforce

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information about the digital platform that Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust uses for temporary medical and dental staffing.

In this request:

“Platform provider” means Locum’s Nest Ltd, Patchwork Health, or another company that supplies a digital staff bank or temporary staffing platform.

Please provide the following:

1. For each platform used for medical or dental temporary staffing at any time from 1 April 2023 to the date of this request:

– the platform provider’s legal name;
– the product name; and
– the dates of use.

If the Trust receives this service through another NHS organisation, rather than buying it directly from the platform provider, please give the name of that organisation.

2. The modules or products to which the Trust currently subscribes.
For Locum’s Nest, these may include Match, Community, Intelligence, Link, PassportPlus, or a collaborative bank service.

3. Whether the Trust, or a predecessor organisation or site now operated by the Trust, is or has been a member of the Locum’s Nest Digital Collaborative Bank. If so, please provide the joining date and, where applicable, the leaving date. The supplier’s website, accessed on 28 July 2026, lists the organisation or its predecessor as a member:

https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flocumsnest.co.uk%2Fthe-digital-collaborative-bank&data=05%7C02%7CFOI%40ghc.nhs.uk%7Ce3bebc47dbb746e9a43108deed4d1d53%7Cf8120e622f9442d0beb68143b2f833fb%7C0%7C0%7C639209112644527105%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lFE4DA0KDa2UbomVECBP%2FbtIe8Zbg%2FfEcHFnNSftP6U%3D&reserved=0

4. The most recent document that lists the information fields that the Trust can view or download from the platform. For example, this could be a list of the column headings in a shift or rate export.

5. The latest document held by the Trust that lists the standard reports, dashboards, or data exports available through the platform.

6. Whether the Trust can export its own shift and rate records from the platform and, if so, the available file formats.

Records stored in the supplier’s system

Some requested records may be stored in the platform provider’s system rather than on the Trust’s own systems. Section 3(2)(b) of the Act covers information that another person stores on behalf of a public authority. Please include requested records that the platform provider stores for the Trust and that the Trust can access or require the provider to supply.

If the Trust considers that any requested record is not held on its behalf, please identify the relevant item and provide any contract term held by the Trust that states whether the Trust can access or obtain that record.

Format and assistance

For any list or tabular data, I prefer CSV format under section 11.

Existing documents can be supplied in their current electronic format.

Please redact exempt information rather than withhold a complete document where this is possible.

If any part of this request is unclear, or if you estimate that compliance would exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice and assistance under section 16 about a practical refinement.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Dear Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act regarding Job Planning Systems. Please can you complete the below questions:

Consultants SAS Doctors Allied Health Professionals (AHPs)
1. What job planning supplier does the organisation use?
1a. If not utilised, could you please specify how you carry out job planning? (e.g paper based, excel, word, if other- please state)
2. What is the contract start date for your job planning supplier?
3. What is the contract end date for your job planning supplier?
4. What was the annual cost of your job planning supplier for the financial year 25/26 (April 2025 – March 2026)?
5. What other third-party systems does your Job planning system integrate with?
6. For each staffing group what percentage of staff is job planning rolled out to?
7. Is job planning at your organisation demand led via a service plan?
8. In line with the NHS Three Year Workforce plan, are you on track by the end of financial year 2026/27 to have a system for monitoring and assurance in place for tracking job planned activity?
7a. If yes, has this been achieved using current systems?
7b. If no, how does the organisation plan to meet these requirements?

Kind Regards,

Dear Freedom of Information Team,

I hope you are well.

Please see the attached Freedom of Information request submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The request relates to your Trust’s use of temporary staffing suppliers, with a particular focus on off-framework, non-framework and non-preferred agency usage across a range of clinical specialities.

Where possible, we would appreciate receiving the information electronically in Microsoft Excel or Word format.

Should any aspect of the request require clarification or be likely to exceed the appropriate cost limit, we would welcome the opportunity to refine the request so that as much information as possible can be provided.

Thank you for your time and assistance. We look forward to your response within the statutory 20 working days.

Kind regards,

Please provide the following information for the period 1st May 2026 to 1st July 2026

1. Non-Framework Agency Usage

Please confirm whether your Trust has utilised any non-framework, off-framework or non-preferred supplier agencies for: Adult RNs, RMNs, RNLDs, Paediatric Nurses, Midwives, Theatre Practitioners (Scrub/Anaesthetics/Recovery), ODPs, Chemotherapy/Oncology Nurses, Critical Care/ICU Nurses, Neonatal Nurses, ED Nurses, HCAs, Theatre Support Workers, Maternity Support Workers and Support Workers.

If yes, provide: Agency name; Staff group; Number of shifts; Total agency spend.

2. Ward / Department Breakdown

Provide a breakdown by Hospital site, Ward, Department and Clinical speciality including Number of shifts, Staff group and Agency used.

3. Framework Escalation

Under what circumstances are off-framework bookings authorised?
Is approval required from Procurement, Temporary Staffing or Executive teams?
Has this approval process changed in the last 12 months?

4. Agency Spend

Provide framework and non-framework spend broken down by each staff group listed in Question 1.

5. Top 10 Non-Framework Suppliers

Provide supplier name, total spend and number of shifts.

6. Highest Demand Areas

Identify the ten clinical areas with the highest off-framework usage, including speciality, hospital site, shifts, staff group and spend.

7. Unfilled Shifts

Provide total agency requests, unfilled requests, escalated to non-framework and remaining unfilled, broken down by staff group where possible.
8. Current Temporary Staffing Arrangements

Which staffing framework(s) are used?

Is there a Preferred Supplier List?

Are non-preferred suppliers permitted?

9. Managed Service Provider

Confirm whether staffing is managed by NHSP, Bank Only, Master Vendor, Neutral Vendor or MSP. If applicable provide provider, contract start, expiry and extension options.

10. Procurement Contacts

Provide job titles only for: Head of Procurement, Temporary Staffing Lead, Bank Manager, Agency Manager and Workforce Director.

11. Future Procurement

Will temporary staffing arrangements be reviewed or retendered within the next 24 months? If known, provide the anticipated review date.

12. Breakdown by Clinical Speciality

Provide non-framework/off-framework shifts by speciality: Adult Nursing, Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Emergency Department, Critical Care/ICU, HDU, Theatre Services, ODPs, Paediatrics, Neonatal, Midwifery, Maternity Services, Chemotherapy/Oncology, Community Nursing, District Nursing, Endoscopy, Cardiology, Stroke, Outpatients, Dialysis/Renal, HCAs, Theatre Support Workers, Maternity Support Workers and Support Workers.

For each provide: Number of shifts; Total agency spend; Number of off-framework shifts; Supplier(s); Hospital site (where available).

13. Agency Spend by Supplier

Provide supplier name, framework/non-framework status, staff groups supplied, total spend and total number of shifts supplied.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to submit a Freedom of Information request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I would like to request information about:

1) Provider name,

2) Contract start and end dates including any extensions

3) Annual contract spend for the third-party software and service providers currently contracted by your Trust for these workforce management functions:

a. bank service for nurses
b. bank service for allied health professionals
c. bank service for medics

I look forward to your response within the statutory 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following recorded information concerning exception reporting by resident doctors (doctors and dentists in training employed under the 2016 Terms and Conditions of Service, as amended February 2026). In this request, “exception reporting software” means any electronic system used by resident doctors to submit exception reports, for example Allocate/RLDatix (DRS, HealthRoster/Optima), Lantum, Patchwork, or an equivalent or in-house system.

Each numbered question is intended as a self-contained request. If you estimate that any part would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12, kindly answer the remaining questions, treating questions 1–3 as the priority.

1. The designated email address (or other designated route) for receiving exception report evidence, as described in Annex D paragraph 10 of the 2016 TCS, where exception reporting software cannot receive it.

2. The designated email address (or other designated route) by which a resident doctor reports an inability to access or complete an exception report. To be clear, I am seeking organisational contact routes only (such as a shared inbox), not any individual’s personal contact details.

3. In relation to the trust’s exception reporting software: (a) the supplier and product name; (b) whether resident doctors can submit an exception report via a mobile application; (c) the contract end date; (d) the total annual cost to the trust, if held separately for this system.

4. The number of exception reports submitted by resident doctors in (a) the financial year 2024/25, (b) the financial year 2025/26, and (c) the period from 4 February 2026 to the date of this request. Where readily available, please also break these figures down by report category and by department or specialty, as recorded in your exception reporting system or Guardian of Safe Working Hours reports.

5. The number and total monetary value of fines levied by the Guardian of Safe Working Hours in each of the periods in question 4, identifying separately any fines relating to exception reporting access or completion failures.

6. Copies of any local policy, guidance or standard operating procedure issued to resident doctors or to HR staff concerning the evidencing of exception reports under the reformed system.

Where numerical information is provided, could you kindly provide it in an excel format.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Dear Sir/Madam,

Reference: FOI-LR-2026-057

I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for information relating to locum doctor hourly pay rates at Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Please provide the Trust’s current standard locum doctor hourly rates for the financial year 2025/26, or the most recent rates currently in effect if no 2025/26 rates are held.

For the purposes of this request, I am seeking the Trust’s standard internal bank, staff bank, NHS Professionals, collaborative bank, or equivalent Trust locum rate card or schedule of rates. If rates vary by hospital site, specialty, department, or escalation status, please provide the standard default rate and indicate where variation applies. I am not seeking individual payroll records or personal data.

To reduce administrative burden, I am not asking the Trust to create new calculations or undertake analysis; I am requesting the recorded rate card, schedule, policy, or closest held information from which these rates are normally applied.

Please provide the rates for the following grade levels, where applicable:
– FY1 / Foundation Year 1
– FY2 / Foundation Year 2
– ST1-2 / CT1-2 / equivalent SHO-level grade
– ST3-5 / equivalent registrar-level grade
– ST6-8 / senior registrar-level grade

For each grade, please provide the hourly rate in GBP and the time window during which the rate applies for each of the following shift
categories:
1. Weekday day
2. Weekday evening
3. Weekday night
4. Weekend day
5. Weekend evening
6. Weekend night

Where possible, I would be grateful if the information could be provided in the following column structure:

Trust | Grade | Shift category | Hourly rate (£/hr) | Time window | Notes

For example:

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust | FY2 | Weekday night | £X.XX | 21:00-09:00 | Standard internal bank rate

If the Trust uses a rate card, spreadsheet, policy document, or schedule of rates containing the equivalent information, I would be happy to receive that document as an attachment instead.

If any grade level or shift category is not used by the Trust, please indicate this as “not applicable” or “not held”, as appropriate.

If the requested information is not held in this exact format, please provide the closest recorded information held by the Trust. If any part of the request is unclear or likely to exceed the appropriate cost limit, please provide advice and assistance under section 16 of the Act as to how the request may be refined.

Please quote the reference FOI-LR-2026-057 in your response where possible.

Monday 27th April 2026

RE: Request under the Freedom of Information Act (2000)

Dear Information Team

This is an information request regarding sick days taken by resident (junior) doctors.

Please include the following information for the following years 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26

• Total number of sick days taken by resident doctors

• Total number of resident doctors that took sick days

• Total number of sick days taken by resident doctors for mental health reasons

• Total number of resident doctors that took sick days due to mental health

If this is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for.

I would prefer a response via email, but if not possible, I will gladly accept letters to the address below.

Please acknowledge this information request as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Good Morning,

Please can I request the below information:

In the period 1st November 2025 to 31st January 2026 please provide a breakdown of:
• Total trust spend with framework agencies for locum doctors
Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by:
• Spend per grade
• Spend per specialty
• Spend per agency name
 
In the period 1st November 2025 to 31st January 2026 please provide a breakdown of:
• Total trust spend with off-framework agencies for locums doctors
Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by:
• Spend per grade
• Spend per specialty
• Spend per agency name
 
In the period 1st November 2025 to 31st January 2026 please provide a breakdown of:
• Total trust spend with the internal trust bank or associated external provider for locum doctors
Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by:
• Spend per grade
• Spend per specialty
• Spend per internal or associated external provider

Please confirm your allocated budget for agency locum doctors for the period 1st November 2025 to 31st January 2026

Please confirm the name of the framework used for the supply of locum doctors in your trust.

Thanks in advance

Dear FOI team,

I am writing with a Freedom of Information request regarding your trust’s use of recruitment agencies.

I would like to receive data on:

1. The current number of executives, managers, and clinical staff employed by your trust (separately for each staff category)

2. The number of executives, managers, and clinical staff hired by your trust using a recruitment agency in each of the last 5 fiscal years, separately for each staff group

3. The annual staff turnover rate for each staff group over the last 5 fiscal years. Please see the following definitions to help you in processing this request:

– Executives: Any members of top-level trust leadership, such as Chair, Chief Executive, Executive Directors (e.g., medical director, nursing director, finance director, Chief Operating Officer) responsible for overall strategy, quality, and governance.
– Managers: Senior management, such as service or care group directors, heads of nursing, clinical directors, general managers, and heads of corporate departments, typically overseeing multiple departments or an entire division, as well as Middle managers and Frontline managers, such as matrons, ward or department managers, team leaders, and service managers who manage day-to-day operations and directly supervise clinical and non-clinical teams.
– Clinical staff: Frontline clinical staff and support staff

Please let me know if there are any questions, and I look forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

Provider 1
1. What is the name of your AHP Direct Engagement software provider? (None if software not used)
2. When did the contract for this provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)
3. When does the contract for this provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)

Provider 2 (If applicable)
4. What is the name of your second AHP Direct Engagement software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
5. When did the contract for this second provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
6. When does the contract for this second provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Provider 3 (If applicable)
7. What is the name of your third AHP Direct Engagement software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
8. When did the contract for this third provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
9. When does the contract for this third provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Additional
10. What was the Trust’s total spend on AHP Direct Engagement fees in 2024 (excluding implementation)?
11. What was the Trust’s total spend on AHP Direct Engagement fees in 2025 (excluding implementation)?

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

Provider 1
1. What is the name of your AHP Collaborative Bank software provider? (None if software not used)
2. When did the contract for this provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)
3. When does the contract for this provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)

Provider 2 (If applicable)
4. What is the name of your second AHP Collaborative Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
5. When did the contract for this second provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
6. When does the contract for this second provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Provider 3 (If applicable)
7. What is the name of your third AHP Collaborative Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
8. When did the contract for this third provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
9. When does the contract for this third provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Additional
10. What was the Trust’s total spend on AHP Collaborative Bank fees in 2024 (excluding implementation)?
11. What was the Trust’s total spend on AHP Collaborative Bank fees in 2025 (excluding implementation)?

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

Provider 1
1. What is the name of your Medics Internal Bank software provider? (None if software not used)
2. When did the contract for this provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)
3. When does the contract for this provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)

Provider 2 (If applicable)
4. What is the name of your second Medics Internal Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
5. When did the contract for this second provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
6. When does the contract for this second provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Provider 3 (If applicable)
7. What is the name of your third Medics Internal Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
8. When did the contract for this third provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
9. When does the contract for this third provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Additional
10. What was the Trust’s total spend on Medics Internal Bank fees in 2024 (excluding implementation)?
11. What was the Trust’s total spend on Medics Internal Bank fees in 2025 (excluding implementation)?

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

Provider 1
1. What is the name of your Nurses Collaborative Bank software provider? (None if software not used)
2. When did the contract for this provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)
3. When does the contract for this provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)

Provider 2 (If applicable)
4. What is the name of your second Nurses Collaborative Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
5. When did the contract for this second provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
6. When does the contract for this second provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Provider 3 (If applicable)
7. What is the name of your third Nurses Collaborative Bank software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
8. When did the contract for this third provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
9. When does the contract for this third provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)
Additional

10. What was the Trust’s total spend on Nurses Collaborative Bank fees in 2024 (excluding implementation)?
11. What was the Trust’s total spend on Nurses Collaborative Bank fees in 2025 (excluding implementation)?

Dear FOI Officer,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information:

Provider 1
1. What is the name of your Nurses E-Rostering software provider? (None if software not used)
2. When did the contract for this provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)
3. When does the contract for this provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy) (None if software not used)

Provider 2 (If applicable)
4. What is the name of your second Nurses E-Rostering software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
5. When did the contract for this second provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
6. When does the contract for this second provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Provider 3 (If applicable)
7. What is the name of your third Nurses E-Rostering software provider? (If you have more than one provider)
8. When did the contract for this third provider start? (dd/mm/yyyy)
9. When does the contract for this third provider expire? (dd/mm/yyyy)

Additional
10. What was the Trust’s total spend on Nurses E-Rostering fees in 2024 (excluding implementation)?
11. What was the Trust’s total spend on Nurses E-Rostering fees in 2025 (excluding implementation)?
12. What is the number of contracted licences for Trust’s Nurses E-Rostering provider?

Kind regards,