Government spending on health staff from 2023 and 2024

Request 716105234

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

Please could you provide the following information for the financial year 2023–2024:

The total amount spent by the Government of Jersey on agency locum doctors, nurses, pharmacists and health care assistants, including a breakdown if available.

The total commission or agency fee component of that spend (i.e., excluding payments made directly to the locums).

The number of agency locum hours worked during this period.

If available, a breakdown of spend per hospital site within the Trust.

If this information is already published or accessible online, I would appreciate it if you could direct me to the relevant resource.

Response

Health and Care Jersey (formerly Health and Community Services) does not follow the fiscal year observed in the NHS. Data for agency staff spend and hours booked for the complete financial year 2023 have been provided in a Freedom of Information response published to www.gov.je in July 2024, available at the link below. Any limitations in the data are explained in the response, with exemptions cited as appropriate.

Where information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Central records held do not group staff by working location, and it is not possible to report the requested information by site. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Workforce and finance data for the whole Department are routinely published in the Health and Care Jersey Advisory Board papers on www.gov.je:

The value of fees or commissions paid is considered commercially sensitive, and as such, Article 33 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied. Furthermore, the requested detail is not available to report from a central record, and would require considerable manual interrogation of multiple datasets, and the creation of new records. A Scheduled Public Authority is not required to create or manipulate data for the purposes of responding to Freedom of Information requests. 

Articles applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33 is a qualified exemption and as such, Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) has conducted a prejudice test as required by law. 

When responding to requests of this nature, HCJ has to balance the public interest with the impact that disclosing this information would, or would be likely to, have upon the organisation and / or third parties. Whilst it may be in the public interest to understand the costs of contracting services, protecting the commercial interests of HCJ is an essential component in controlling public finances, which in itself is in the public interest.

It has been concluded that disclosing details of contractual service arrangements - including the value of fees or commission paid - is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HCJ and / or the provider(s).

When considering the application of this exemption, HCJ has determined that whilst it is in the public interest to disclose information, this is outweighed by the necessity to limit any impact on the commercial interests of HCJ and third parties in future contract negotiations, and as such, Article 33 has been applied.​