External clinical team costs

​​Request 827145280

Jersey Medical Director Simon West recently announced that an external clinical team is being brought into the Neurology department to deliver services for the next six months. How much will this cost? And are there any expectations that the clinical team will extend beyond the stated six months?

Response

Arrangements are still to be finalised and costs agreed for an external team to deliver Neurology services. In the meantime, a Locum clinician has been engaged for service continuity.

The contract of Locum services is commercially sensitive. Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) considers that disclosure of specific cost information for the contracted Locum service would likely prejudice the commercial interests of the department, or others. Therefore, Article 33 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

With regards to whether there is any expectation that an extended period of cover may be required, this question is a request for comment or speculation on future service provision. Freedom of Information is a mechanism to enable access to information held in recorded form by a Scheduled Public Authority, rather than to pose questions requiring comment, opinion or speculation. Information is not held by HCJ to satisfy the question posed. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

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 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).

Prejudice / Public Interest Test

Article 33 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and, as such, HCJ has conducted a prejudice and public interest 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 external resources, protecting the commercial interests of HCJ is an essential component in controlling public finances, which in itself is in the public interest.

Locum services need to be contracted and negotiated frequently to meet clinical demand and cover periods of leave or absence of substantive medical staff, as required. Disclosing information relating to contractual service arrangements is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of HCJ and others and be detrimental to future contract negotiations.

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 its commercial interests in contracting future Locum clinician services and as such, Article 33 has been applied.​