Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN00218

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, 17, and 20 February 2023: Pre-action assurance, cancer services, rescheduled activity, and workforce situation report (SitRep) data collections

This letter concerns the approach to workforce and activity impacts of the following industrial action:

• GMB members at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust on 13 February
• GMB and Unite members at West Midlands Ambulance Service from 06:00 on 17 February through until 08:00 hours on 18 February
• GMB members at North East, Yorkshire, North West, East Midlands, South East Coast, South Central, and South Western Ambulance Services and Unite members at North East and East Midlands Ambulance Services on 20 February (times vary)
• GMB members at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust on 20 February

GMB action at Mersey Care on 13 February

NHS England will liaise with regional colleagues to conduct pre-action readiness assurance (if required) for GMB industrial action on 13 February, using the previously issued Excel template.

An excel template will be used to collect rescheduled appointments data from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust on 14 February. SDCS will be used to collect workforce data on the day following action (14 February) from this Trust only.

Ambulance industrial action on 17 and 20 February

Pre-action assurance for Ambulance industrial action (Excel)

NHS England will again request Ambulance Trusts affected by industrial action to report their confidence in ability to provide critical services and the level of agreement on derogations in key service areas, using the previously issued Excel template.

For the first return, both the industrial action taking place at West Midlands Ambulance Service (17 February) and at the seven affected Ambulance Trusts (20 February) will be in scope.

The template will be issued at 12:00 on 15 February with a deadline for return of 12:00 on 16 February.
Dependent on the level of assurance in the initial return, the template will be re-issued late afternoon on 16 February for the seven Ambulance Trusts with industrial action taking place on 20 February, with a deadline for return of 12:00 on 17 February. However, a return will only be required if there has been a material change in circumstances since the first return.

Submission requirements for pre-action assurance

Pre-action readiness assurance documents will be cascaded via NHS England’s National Operations Centre (NOC) and each Regional Operations Centre (ROC) to NHS Trusts and ICBs affected by the IA.
Our expectation is that the returns are completed by Operational and/or EPRR leads in Trusts affected by the IA. Trusts are asked to complete the templates and to submit returns to their Regional Operations Centre.

Ambulance industrial action on 17 and 20 February – workforce and rescheduled activity situation report (SitRep) data collections

NHS England will conduct two SitRep data collections via Strategic Data Collection Service (SDCS) as follows:

1) Industrial Action workforce SitRep. This will collect numbers of staff taking part in the IA, and total numbers of staff due to be at work. This data will be collected on 21 February, from the West Midlands Ambulance Service with regards to the industrial action taking place on 17 February and the seven affected Ambulance Trusts with industrial action on 20 February.

2) Industrial Action rescheduled activity SitRep. This will collect information on activity that has been rescheduled as a result of industrial action. The collection will be open to all acute, community and mental health trusts. However as there is no Ambulance action occurring in London or East of England on either 17 or 20 February, Trusts in these regions will not be expected to provide returns unless impacted by border issues.

These data collections will run on two occasions – on 16 February (to provide an initial internal estimate and aid in planning), and 21 February (to provide final figures for the impact of the industrial action, highlights of which will be published on our website as we have done previously).

The collection will request the figures of rescheduled activity for the seven-day period of 15 February to 22 February inclusive.

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

GMB action at East Suffolk and North Essex on 20 February

NHS England will liaise with regional colleagues to conduct pre-action readiness assurance (if required) for GMB industrial action on 20 February, using the previously issued Excel template.

Pre-action assurance for East Suffolk and North Essex will be issued on Thursday 16 February, no later than 12:00, with a deadline for return of 12:00 to the ROC on Friday 17 February.

SDCS will be used to collect workforce and rescheduled appointments data on the day following action (21 February).

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 this information

Data from the assurance and SDCS collections prior to each day of industrial action will be used to understand the anticipated operational position of each Trust and help NHSE target regional support and follow-up – it will not be published.

The data on rescheduled activity collected following each strike (on 14 February for Mersey Care, and 21 February for all other relevant Trusts) will confirm the position following each period of industrial action and highlights of the data will be published.

It is important that all relevant Trusts submit data returns so we can fully understand the impacts. Regional Operations Centre and the national SDCS team will follow up to ensure all relevant Trusts make returns.

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

• Thursday 09/02/2023
  • Pre-assurance template issued for Mersey Care action / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Friday 10/02/2023
  • Pre-assurance template return due for Mersey Care action / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Sat 11/02/2023
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Sun 12/02/2023
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Mon 13/02/2023
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Tues 14/02/2023
  • SDCS IA workforce sitrep for Mersey Care (to cover action on 13 February) / SDCS collection
  • Excel IA rescheduling sitrep for Mersey Care (to cover action on 13 February) / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Weds 15/02/2023
  • Pre-action assurance for Ambulance Services with action on 17 or 20 February issued / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Thurs 16/02/2023
  • SDCS IA rescheduling sitrep for all relevant Trusts (impacts of Ambulance action on 17 or 20 February and at East Suffolk and North Essex) / SDCS collection
  • Pre-action assurance for Ambulance Services with action on 17 or 20 February – returns due by 1200 / Excel via NOC and ROCs
  • Pre-action assurance for Ambulance Services with action on 17 or 20 February – Template re-issued (if required) – 1600 / Excel via NOC and ROCs
  • Pre-action assurance for East Suffolk and North Essex -issued / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Fri 17/02/2023
  • TBC Pre-action assurance for Ambulance Services with action on 20 February – returns due by 1200 / Excel via NOC and ROCs
  • Pre-action assurance for East Suffolk and North Essex – returns due by 1200 / Excel via NOC and ROCs
• Sat 18/02/2023
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Sun 19/02/2023
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Mon 20/02/2023
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns
• Tues 21/02/2023
  
  • SDCS IA workforce sitrep for Ambulance Services (to cover with action on 17 or 20 February) / SDCS collection
  • SDCS IA workforce sitrep for East Suffolk and North Essex (to cover action on 20 February) / SDCS collection
  • SDCS IA rescheduling sitrep for all relevant Trusts (impacts of Ambulance action on 17 or 20 February and at East Suffolk and North Essex) / SDCS collection
• Weds 22/02/2023
  
  • No SDCS collections or assurance returns

Annex B – Data collection submitters

We will create 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.
• 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 the org has previously submitted, otherwise we will use submitters from the COVID daily SitRep.

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.