Agency and Locum Spend

Please provide the following information in relation to the last three months (or the most recent three complete months available): Data period 01/11/2025 – 30/01/2026

1. Agency Nursing Usage

• Total number of agency nursing shifts requested. 1,476
• Total number of unfilled agency nursing shifts. 436
• Total spend on agency nursing staff. Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act, this request has been exempt on the grounds that the information is already publicly available on the Trust’s website.  Please see ‘Bank and agency spend/data’ under the ‘What we spend and how we spend it’ section of the Publication Scheme here:  Access to information
• Breakdown of spend by staff group/band and specialty (e.g. ED, ITU, theatres, general wards), where available. As above

2. Locum Medical Usage

• Total number of locum medical shifts requested. Agency locums – 106
• Total number of unfilled locum medical shifts. Agency locums – 0
• Total spend on locum medical staff. Under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act, this request has been exempt on the grounds that the information is already publicly available on the Trust’s website.  Please see ‘Bank and agency spend/data’ under the ‘What we spend and how we spend it’ section of the Publication Scheme here:  Access to information
• Breakdown by grade and/or specialty (e.g. ED, medicine, surgery, anaesthetics, obstetrics), where available. As above

3. Rate Cap Escalations

• The number of occasions where agency nursing bookings exceeded NHS England rate caps. 160
• The number of occasions where locum medical bookings exceeded NHS England rate caps. Agency locums – 107
• The total spend attributable to bookings above rate caps.
  Agency Nursing – £71,855. Agency Medical – £108,901
• The staff groups, grades, or specialties most associated with rate cap escalations.
  Nursing – MIU – ENP
  Medical – Medical – Consultant – Neurology/ Medical – Consultant – Oncology/ Registrar ST3 (+) – ENT

 4. Hard-to-Fill / Niche Skill Sets

• Nursing or medical roles identified as particularly difficult to fill. N/A
• The specialist skills, qualifications, or experience required (e.g. ITU-trained nurses, theatre practitioners, ED middle grades, anaesthetics). N/A
• Whether these roles were more likely to result in:
  • Unfilled shifts, and/or N/A
  • Rate cap escalations. N/A

5. Cost Reduction & Workforce Optimisation

The job title and department (not personal name) of the most appropriate contact responsible for:

• Temporary staffing and agency workforce strategy – Head of Temporary Resourcing and Medical Rota Coordination Service
• Reducing agency and locum expenditure – Head of Temporary Resourcing and Medical Rota Coordination Service
• Managed service, neutral vendor, or workforce optimisation solutions– Head of Temporary Resourcing and Medical Rota Coordination Service