Agency Staffing Reduction Strategy

Reference: 25-26218

Date response sent: 20/08/2025

Details of enquiry

1. Has NHS England, DHSC and/or NHS Professionals formally written to you to ask your Trust to reduce agency staff?
2. Has your Trust assessed the impact of reducing agency staff on safe staffing levels and patient-to-staff ratios? If so, can you share the Impact Assessment or a summary of it?
3. What is your Trust’s total expenditure on a) agency staffing and b) bank staffing since 2020?
4. What KPIs have you put in place to achieve the mandated 30% reduction in agency staffing spend? For example, do you have an agency to bank transfer target, and if so, what is it?

Response sent

1. Has NHS England, DHSC and/or NHS Professionals formally written to you to ask your Trust to reduce agency staff?

Yes.  A copy of the letter to all NHS provider executive teams and associated guidance has been posted on-line by NHS England and is publicly available as follows:

• NHS England » 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance
• NHS England » Letter: Further action to reduce NHS spending on temporary agency staffing

2. Has your Trust assessed the impact of reducing agency staff on safe staffing levels and patient-to-staff ratios? If so, can you share the Impact Assessment or a summary of it?

No.  As we have generally low levels of agency usage, we have not needed to undertake an overall impact assessment.  We do however scrutinise ECP Requests (Establishment Control Panel),  using quality impact assessment considerations where needed, and this includes request to convert agency usage to bank or fixed term contracts.  These are done verbally within the ECP meeting.

3. What is your Trust’s total expenditure on a) agency staffing and b) bank staffing since 2020?

The Trust holds its data in Financial years, so calendar year 2020, as requested,  straddles financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21.  We can provide you with this data by financial years.

We have published into the public domain 2 responses to FOI applicants on this subject and time frame, and you may reach these in our FOI disclosure log by clicking on the following links:

• FOI 23-24510 Agency & Bank Spend since 2019/20 – Tavistock and Portman
• FOI 24-25360 Bank & Agency Spend On/off framework since 2020/21 – Tavistock and Portman

4. What KPIs have you put in place to achieve the mandated 30% reduction in agency staffing spend? For example, do you have an agency to bank transfer target, and if so, what is it?

Please see our response to Question 2.

The Trust does not have an agency to bank transfer target.