FOI240246: Use of agencies to recruit overseas medical staff

Released 26 June 2024

Request:

Please can you provide me with answers to the following questions regarding the use of agencies to recruit overseas medical staff.

1. Has the Trust used agencies to recruit permanent/international doctors in the last 6 months and if so, which agencies were used?
2. Has the Trust used agencies to recruit permanent/international nurses in the last 3 months and if so, which agencies were used?
3. Has the Trust used agencies to recruit permanent/international allied health professionals in the last 6 months and if so, which agencies were used?
4. Please provide a breakdown of the number of doctors by grade and specialism placed as result of permanent/fixed-term/international recruitment in the last 6 months using agencies
5. Please provide a breakdown of the number of nurses by specialism i.e. general ward, midwifery, mental health etc placed as result of permanent/international recruitment in the last 6 months using agencies
6. Please provide a breakdown by band and profession of the number of allied health professionals placed as result of permanent/fixed-term/international recruitment in the last 6 months using agencies
7. What was the total permanent/international recruitment agency spend on the before mentioned job roles?
8. Does your Trust intend to recruit doctors, nurses or allied health professional on a permanent/fixed-term/international recruitment basis using an agency over the next 12 months? If so which categories and anticipated volume for each category
9. Are there any contract end dates for the supply of permanent/fixed-term/international doctor, nurses or allied health professionals occurring in 2024/25 if so, what dates and with which providers?
10. Are you intending to come out to tender or complete mini competitions for suppliers of permanent/fixed-term/international doctor, nurses or allied health professionals in the financial year 2024/25?
11. Please confirm your current nursing vacancy rate by band and specialism across your trust
12. Please confirm your current doctor’s vacancy rate by grade and speciality across your trust
13. Do you have a central recruitment team or an international recruitment lead?
14. Please provide the contact name of the person in charge of all medical recruitment in relation to permanent/fixed-term/international recruitment?
15. Please provide the contact name of the person in charge of all nursing recruitment in relation to permanent/international recruitment?
16. Please provide the contact name of the person in charge of your procurement department for dealing with permanent/international recruitment?

Information disclosed:

1. No
2. No
3. No
4. 2 fixed term only; one in A&E, one in Radiology
5. None
6. None
7. Nil (£0)
8. No
9. No
10. No
11. and 12. For information relevant to these questions, please refer to the attached documents:
    
    FOI240246 – Nursing data.pdf and FOI240246 – Medical data.pdf

13. Yes; the Trust has an International Nurse Recruitment Lead

14, 15 and 16. As is the case for most NHS organisations, we are not of the view that it is appropriate to routinely release the names and contact details of our staff into the public domain through the FOIA. This is to safeguard our staff from companies that may misuse this information. 

The names and contact details you are seeking are therefore exempt under section 40(2) [personal information] exemption of the Act. 

Depending on the purpose of your request, you may wish to contact the Trust’s human resources service regarding any questions about supplying staff or joining a framework and this can be done by emailing. It is important to note that the Trust and its commissioning partners are required to follow very specific rules when procuring equipment or services. It will be therefore of little benefit to contact our staff directly about such opportunities.