Freedom of Information Request: 0817 2020/21

Considering how important references are especially in the NHS and how lack of access to one could contribute to institutional racism we would like to request the following information:

•  Does your Trust give references to current members of staff as a matter of policy or is it left at each managers discretion?  References are not provided centrally so they go to person who the member of staff has detailed as their current line manager. The Trust’s expectation is that line managers will complete these reference requests.

•  Under what conditions will your Trust not give references to members of your staff? If the Trust is not able to find details of a member of staff e.g. they left the organisation a number of years ago, then it may not be possible to provide a reference however the requestor would be advised of this. There may be occasions where we are only able to confirm minimal details e.g. employment dates and job role due to line managers having left the organisation.
• Does your Trust give references to former members of staff to cover the period they worked with you as policy or is it at each managers discretion? Response as per Questions 1 and 2

•  Do you have a time frame within which received references must be responded to or is it at each managers’ discretion? No, there is no set time scale for a response.