FOI/25/154

Request

Please can I request the below information:

 

1. In the period 1st May 2024 to 31st July 2024 please provide a breakdown of: 

• Total trust spend with framework agencies for locum doctors - Overall Medical & Dental – 200k

2. Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by: 

• Spend per grade - Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.

• Spend per specialty - – Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.

• Spend per agency name - – Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.

3. In the period 1st May 2024 to 31st July 2024 please provide a breakdown of: 

• Total trust spend with off-framework agencies for locums doctors - 0

Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by: 

• Spend per grade – None applicable
• Spend per specialty – None applicable
• Spend per agency name - – None applicable

  

In the period 1st May 2024 to 31st July 2024 please provide a breakdown of: 

• Total trust spend with the internal trust bank or associated external provider for locum doctors - Overall Medical & Dental – 500k

Please provide a further breakdown for locum doctors by: 

• Spend per grade - – Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.

• Spend per specialty – Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.
• Spend per internal or associated external provider – Commercially Sensitive, Section 43 applied. See below.

 

 

Please confirm your allocated budget for agency locum doctors for the period 1st May 2024 to 31^st July 2024. 

There is no agency budget allocated across the Trust.

 

 

Section 43 Response

 Section 43 – Commercial Interest

Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity). Disclosure of the requested information could prejudice pending or future negotiations the CLCH may be subject to.

This is a qualified exemption under the FOIA, which means that consideration must also be given to whether in all the circumstances of the case the public interest favouring disclosure is greater than the public interest in maintaining the exemption. The public interest means what is in the best interests of the public not what is of interest to the public.

Factors in favour of discloser:  

·       Disclosing information relating to the value of the rent charged would benefit the public interest by encouraging transparency. 

·       Disclosing information relating to [spend for the requested periods by grade and speciality] would promote accountability and transparency by showing how CLCH receive and spend public money. 

Factors in favour of non-disclosure: 

·       Disclosing the [spend for the requested periods by grade and speciality] would undermine our competitive position in the marketplace. 

·       Disclosing the [spend for the requested periods by grade and specialty] would compromise the commercial activities of CLCH, as it would compromise its ability to negotiate competitive future deals.

·       Disclosure of the [spend for the requested periods by grade and specialty], is likely to lead to reputational and financial damage which would affect future investments and have a knock-on effect to the money raised for the health economy.

Having considered the above, we maintain that the factors in favour of upholding the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosure. Therefore, the balance of the public interest test is greater in maintaining the exemption available under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.