Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN00306

To:

• Integrated care boards (ICBs):
  • chief executives
  • chief operating officers
  • chairs
  • chief people officers/human resource (HR) directors
• Trusts:
  • chief executives
  • chief operating officers
  • chief people officers/HR directors
• CSU managing directors

cc.

• Regional:
  • directors
  • directors of nursing
  • heads of emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR)

Dear Colleagues,

Industrial action – 13-16 March 2023: Pre-action assurance, cancer services, rescheduled activity, and workforce situation report (SitRep) data collections

This letter outlines the approach to pre-action assurance and to capturing workforce and activity impacts of industrial action by junior doctors [British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA)], and by hospital dental trainees [British Dental Association (BDA)] from 6:59 am on the 13 March to 6:59 am on the 16 March.

It is important that all trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) submit data returns so we can fully understand the impacts. Chief Executives and Chief Operating Officers are asked to ensure that all trusts and ICBs complete the data return in a timely manner.

Pre-action assurance

In our recent letter to integrated care boards and trusts regarding planning for industrial action by junior doctors (PRN00279), we asked each integrated care system to coordinate an early self-assessment of the potential impacts of junior doctor strike action in their system, as well as impacts at ICB level.

As we move closer to the industrial action, NHS England is again requesting ICBs and trusts to report confidence in their ability to provide critical services, using a modified version of the previously issued Excel template (attached for information).

Trusts and ICBs are asked to complete the template on the basis that no derogations are agreed with the BMA/HCSA to exempt services (beyond the stated commitments to recall staff in the event of mass casualty incidents) and to complete the template based on realistic local planning assumptions for the level of clinical cross-cover from consultants (senior doctors) and other clinicians.

We will use the updated information you provide to identify areas for escalation or further guidance, and to focus our support for systems.

The readiness template will be issued on the 7 March via the National Operations Centre (NOC) and Regional Operations Centre (ROC).

The deadline for return to the NOC is 12:00 on 9 March; regional teams will be in contact to agree local submission timescales.

Submission requirements for pre-action assurance

Pre-action readiness assurance documents will be cascaded via NOC and each ROC to NHS Trusts and ICBs.

Our expectation is that the returns are completed by Operational and/or EPRR leads in Trusts affected by the industrial action. Trusts are asked to complete the templates, and ICBs are asked to collate responses on behalf of their system, and also complete a return for their ICB itself as an affected organisation.

Regional Operations Centres are asked to collate and review returns, and to send the collated returns for their region, together with a summary to the NOC.

Workforce and rescheduled activity situation report (SitRep) data collections via Strategic Data Collection Service (SDCS) for industrial action on 13-15 March NHS England will conduct two SitRep data collections via the Strategic Data Collection Service (SDCS) as follows:

1. Industrial Action workforce SitRep. This will collect numbers of staff taking part in the industrial action, and total numbers of staff due to be at work. This data will be collected on 16 March. The collection will be open for all acute, community and mental health trusts, ambulance services, and ICBs. All organisations are requested to submit data, even if it is a nil return.

2. Industrial Action rescheduled activity SitRep. This will collect information on activity that has been rescheduled because of industrial action. The collection will be open for all acute, community and mental health trusts.

These data collections will run on three occasions – on Wednesday 8 and Friday 10 March (to provide an initial internal estimates and aid in planning), and 16 March (to provide final figures for the impact of the industrial action).

The collection will request the figures of rescheduled activity for the seven-day period of 12 – 18 March inclusive.

Notes

Resubmissions will only be needed for the rescheduled collections on 10 and 16 March if the data has changed from the previous submission on Wednesday 8 March, and any new submission will overwrite the previous submission (e.g., if the first submission reported 100 rescheduled appointments, and then a further 2 were found to have been rescheduled after the original submission, then the revised submission would need to show 102 rescheduled appointments).

A schedule highlighting which data will be collected on each of the upcoming dates are included at Annex A.

Submission requirements

Submissions will be made through the SDCS, and on any day that the collection is running we will open the collection at 09:00 and the deadline for submission will be 13:00 that day. The template will be available to download from SDCS from 09:00 on the day the collection is running.

Detail on the submitters list for each organisation is included at Annex B.

How we will use the information

Data from the collections prior to the industrial action will be used to understand the anticipated position of each Trust, inform local conversations, and help NHSE target regional support and follow-up – it will not be published. Highlights of the data collected on 16 March will confirm the summary position following the industrial action and will be published.

Guidance and support

Templates illustrating the data required for each submission are shown in Annexes C-F.

More detailed guidance notes will be shared with registered submitters ahead of the first collection.
If you have any questions, please contact your regional team.

Many thanks for your continued cooperation and support in providing this information and ensuring a high return rate.

Yours sincerely,

Stephen Groves, Director of NHS Resilience, NHS England.

Annex A – Schedule of data collections and assurance returns

• Sunday 5 March
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Monday 6 March
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Tuesday 7 March
  • Pre-action assurance for BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March – issued / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Wednesday 8 March
  • SDCS IA rescheduling sitrep for all Trusts (impacts of BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March) for the seven-day period of 12 – 18 March inclusive / SDCS collection
• Thursday 9 March
  • Pre-action assurance for BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March – returned / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Friday 10 March
  
  • SDCS IA rescheduling sitrep for all Trusts (impacts of BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March) for the seven-day period of 12 – 18 March inclusive / SDCS collection
• Saturday 11 March
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns – subject to change, if required
• Sunday 12 March
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns – subject to change, if required
• Monday 13 March
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns – BDA, HCSA, BMA action
• Tuesday 14 March
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns – BDA, HCSA, BMA action
• Wednesday 15 March
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns – BDA, HCSA, BMA action
• Thursday 16 March
  
  • SDCS IA workforce sitrep for BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March / SDCS collection
  • SDCS IA rescheduling sitrep for all Trusts (impacts of BMA, HCSA, BDA action on 13-16 March) for the seven-day period of 12 – 18 March inclusive / SDCS collection

Annex B – Data collection submitters

We will create a submitters list for each organisation as per below.

Organisation type – source of submitter list:

• NHS acute trusts – We will use the same submitters as for previous IA collections (where trusts haven’t made workforce submissions before we will use submitters from the rescheduled collection)
• NHS ambulance trusts – we will use the same submitters as for previous IA collections.
• NHS community and mental health trusts – We will use the same submitters as for previous IA collections (where trusts haven’t made workforce submissions before we will use submitters from the rescheduled collection)
• Integrated care boards – Where we have submitters registered from previous workforce
  IA collections, we will use those, otherwise we will use submitters from the Board Vacancies collection.

If you want to make changes to the submitter list for your organisation, then please contact emergency.collections@nhs.net.

Please also contact this email address if you have any issues in accessing the return for your organisation.

Annex C – Workforce SitRep

Annex D – Rescheduled activity SitRep (acute trusts)

Annex E – Rescheduled activity SitRep (mental health and learning disability trusts)

Mental health and learning disability activity SitRep.

Annex F – Rescheduled activity SitRep (community services)

Community activity SitRep.