Thank you for your request for information about the following:

Request

This request relates to Special Class Status SCS of employees, which enables an unreduced pension at a retirement age of 55.

1. Could you please confirm how many staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status or have already retired at 55 years of age with an unreduced pension since 01.01.16.

1a. Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

2. Could you please confirm how many staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status and are due to retire/reach age 55 in the next 5 years.

2a. Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

3. Could you please confirm how many staff nationally with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status or have already retired at 55 years of age with an unreduced pension since 01.01.16.

3a. Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

4. Could you please confirm how many staff nationally with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status and are due to retire/reach age 55 in the next 5 years.

4a. Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

This does not just apply to ODP Theatre Staff, this should include anyone with an ODP title eg Pre-Op Nurses, Research Nurses, Training and Development Nurses, Management etc.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 11 December 2025.

We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

Our response

I can confirm that the NHSBSA holds the information you have requested, please see the information below.

Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data.

Question 1 - Could you please confirm how many staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status or have already retired at 55 years of age with an unreduced pension since 01.01.16.

Question 1a - Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

We can confirm that none of the staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status or qualification who have successfully retained Special Class Status, or who have already retired at age 55 with an unreduced pension since 1 January 2016, hold a managerial position or are above Band 5.

Question 2 - Could you please confirm how many staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status and are due to retire/reach age 55 in the next 5 years.

Question 2a - Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

We can confirm that no staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals with ODP status or qualification have retained Special Class Status and are due to retire or reach age 55 within the next five years.

Question 3 - Could you please confirm how many staff nationally with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status or have already retired at 55 years of age with an unreduced pension since 01.01.16.

Question 3a - Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

We can confirm that there are no staff nationally with ODP status or qualification who have retained Special Class Status or retired at age 55 with an unreduced pension since 1 January 2016.

Question 4 - Could you please confirm how many staff nationally with ODP status/qualification have successfully retained their Special Class Status and are due to retire/reach age 55 in the next 5 years.

Question 4a - Could you clarify of this total how many are in a managerial position/above Band 5

We can confirm that there are no staff nationally with ODP status or qualification who have retained Special Class Status and are due to retire or reach age 55 within the next five years.

For a member to be identified as having Special Class Status (SCS) - or identified as being eligible to retire from 55 via SCS, their employment must be recorded on our systems as:

Capacity Code 01* (= nurse, midwife, physiotherapist, or health visitor)

Employment Type 7** (= restructuring special class)

* Employers decide the Capacity Code

** Our systems apply the Employment Type code, based on the Capacity Code the employer decided and the membership pattern already on our records.

To understand the Capacity Codes and Employment types please see below links:

https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-04637/en-us

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2020-01/Capacity%20code%20list%20-20200127-%28V5%29.pdf

Employment Type 7 can only be applied to a current employment where the member is recorded with Capacity Code 01, was also recorded with Capacity Code 01 and Employment Type 7 before 6 March 1995, and has not had a break in pensionable membership of five years or more since that date.

To summarise, to be eligible for a normal pension age (NPA) of 55, a member would need to be recorded as Capacity Code 01, Employment Type 7 prior to 6 March 1995 and in their current employment (or latest employment at retirement, if applicable).

ODPs are recorded as Capacity code 04 (Capacity Code 04 covers roles such as clerical / other / Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), therapists and known as “officers”).

Employment type for Capacity Code 04 is always 01.

A member could never be recorded as having SCS in a Capacity Code 04 ODP role.

We do not approve SCS for any ODP role in cases where we are asked to consider the status.

However, there is always the possibility that an employer might have incorrectly recorded an ODP under Capacity Code 01.

If Capacity Code 01 has been used incorrectly by an employer for an ODP we wouldn’t be able to identify this error because our records don’t hold the member’s job title, qualifications, or banding.

Looking at Sherwood Forest Hospitals (EA3641), there are currently 1690 member records with this Employing Authority (EA).

Publishing this response

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https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-03445

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