The responses to your query are detailed below:
1. The amount spent by the trust on Agency medical locums for the period of
April 2013 – Current
April 2012 – April 2013 (financial year)
April 2011 – April 2012 (financial year)
Please see attached document
2. A breakdown of this spend by each supplier (agency)
Although we hold this information we estimate that compliance with your request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. This is currently £450 and relates to the cost of analysing individual invoices.
3. Please can you Specify which framework your Trust signed up to for the provision of medical locums (GPS/HTE/LPP or other (please name) ) for the above timeframe – years 2011- 2012, 2012 – 2013, 2013 – Current
Not formally signed to any framework until August 2013 when signed up to HTE
4. Please can you break down the agency as :
· GPS/Buying Solutions Framework supplier and Off Framework supplier
· or if you currently use any other framework, please can you list these eg HTE or LPP and Off Framework supplier, please specify the date the Trust moved over to the named framework
Always use on framework agenices
5. Please can you identify any Sister agencies if the supplier was an Off Framework agency and Name the Framework arm the sister agency was affiliated with?
Definition of a sister company – A company which is owned by the same parent company or has the same director/s (ownership) as another company.
N/A – No off framework usage
6. Please can you explain the reason why Off Framework or Sister Agencies were used?
N/A
7. Please can the Trust detail how the introduction of the Sister agency was made, if your Trust predominantly uses/d the GPS/BS/HTE/LPP Framework?
N/A
8. Please can you detail any corporate entertainment/hospitality or gifts provided by the Medical Locum Agency to medical staffing or departmental decision maker/s or management team (procurement/finance) who are responsible for the selection of agencies/locums.
None
Does the Trust monitor the volume of work going through a particular agency to ensure that the locum booking decision maker/procurement team/finance dept hasn’t been influenced by such activities?
N/A
9. Please can you list the agencies providing such corporate entertainment /hospitality or gifts, assuming there is a log/register?
N/A
10. Does the Trust monitor the agencies on their PSL are providing a VfM service and not taking the placements to their Off Framework arm or Sister Companies?
Yes but we do not accept any off framework bookings
If so how is this reviewed and monitored?
11. Please can you detail how you select your Agency Suppliers?
HTE Framework supplier list
a) Is this influenced by previous relationship with the supplier (including the addition of agencies who might be newly formed/off framework), or is there a fair selection process in place?
Previous relationship would not be a determining factor but may form part of decision making process
b) Does the trust have a guideline for procurement and selection of suppliers?
Selected through HTE
c) If a supplier is on the GPS/HTE/LPP framework, how can they make a case for them to be added to the suppliers list to start servicing your Trust?
Contact Recruitment Services to discuss being be added to supplier list
d) What is the Trusts complaint or appeals procedure should a Supplier feel that they are not being given a fair chance to represent their agency to supply locums ?
Contact Recruitment Services Manager and/or HTE
e) How does your Trust exclude bias and favouritism towards a certain supplier, given that naturally the locum booker/decision makers tend to prefer working with people they ‘like’ and ‘get on with’ or a particular organisation and reluctant to try new suppliers, who might be more cost effective or efficient, have a more robust compliance level than the current supplier/s?
Candidates selected on the basis of quality, compliance & cost rather than by who they are supplied by.
f) Does your Trust review the quality of locum/s that are ‘booked’ against the candidates who were submitted by other suppliers but were rejected to ensure that the best candidate was offered the post, rather than selected because the candidate was from a particular agency or person?
Yes
g) Does your Trust monitor or have a policy to ensure all CVs within a certain timeframe of a locum requirement being sent out to agencies are passed on to the decision maker and a fair selection process is in place rather than a policy of forwarding the ‘favourite’ agencies CVs once the candidate specification is met and screened for?
CVs are pre-screened before being sent to decision maker, however, pre-screening focuses on quality, compliance, costs and availability and does not include source of supply
What Quality Assurance Measures does your Trust have in place to review the above two scenarios f & g?
Monitored by Recruitment Services Manager
h) Does your Trust review candidate files that were selected against the Trusts minimums standards for employing a doctor? How often does your Trust conduct internal audits on these candidate files to ensure compliance is as per contract (GPS/LPP or HTE)?
All files checked prior to doctor being booked to work
i) If an agency has a history of submitting files with poor compliance checks and deviating from best practice or the standards set out by the various frameworks what action/s does the Trust take against the agency?
Initially raised with the agency to advise then HTE. If poor compliance continues then consideration given to removing agency from supplier base.
Is this consistent and are all suppliers treated the same irrespective of market dominance or size?
Yes
f) If the Trust has an internal audit/QA process in place for compliance checks of candidates placed at the Trust, Please list your internal audit data for suppliers of medical locums since April 2012- Current
No formalised audit process, however, checks of each file are made prior to a doctor being booked
12. How often does your Trust review it’s PSL to ensure other Agencies (On the Trusts chosen Medical Locum Framework) have an opportunity to become a supplier?
Annually
