Thank you for your request for information about the following: 

Question 1: The number of members employed by a GP practice that have the word 'nurse' within an ACTIVE employment job title as at 30th September 2023. Exclude Practice Staff employed by an Out of Hours Provider

Question 2: The number of members employed by a GP practice that held an employment with special class status pre 6th March 1995 and have not had a break in service of more than 5 years since. Exclude Practice Staff employed by an Out of Hours Provider

Question 3: How many protected 1995 Section Practice Staff nurse members (capacity code 01) were within 10 years of age 60 as at 30th September 2023 (e.g. How many were 50 or over). Exclude Practice Staff employed by an Out of Hours Provider.
I require data for those members over age 50 at 30th September 2023

Question 4: How many protected 2008 Section Practice Staff nurse members (capacity code 01) were within 10 years of age 65 as at 30th September 2023? (e.g. How many were 55 or over). Exclude Practice Staff employed by an Out of Hours Provider.

Please provide your response in the same format as per FOI 27699 dated 10th October 20212. 

This was then clarified with the below:

Question: Due to McCloud ruling, no members should have 1995 or 2008 service after 01/04/2022. All active members are in the 2015 scheme.

In light of this regulatory change, the requester needs to clarify if they want us to look at linked scheme transition members or anyone with previous 1995/2008 service (including decoupled).

I.e. For Question 3 do we count a member with previous decoupled (more than a 5 year break) 1995 service, if they have 2015 service on 30th September 2023? If they have decoupled 1995 service and linked 2008 service, should they be counted in Question 3 and/or Question 4?

Answer: Please include linked scheme transition members or anyone with previous 1995/2008 service (including decoupled). Scheme Members should be counted in Question 3 and/or Question 4 as appropriate.

Your request was received on 2 October 2023 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.   

Response

Question 1 As of 30 September 2023, there were 26,547 unique nurses actively employed by a GP Practice (excluding those who were active with an out of hours provider).

Question 2 As of 26 October 2023, there are 2,419 unique members actively employed by a GP Practice (excluding those who were active with an out of hours provider), who held special class status in a role prior to 06/03/1995, and have not had a break in service of more than 5 years since then.

Question 3 As of 30 September 2023, there were 6,809 fully protected nurses actively employed by a GP Practice (excluding those who were active with an out of hours provider), who were on or over the age of 50 as of 30/09/2023, and had some previous service in the 1995 section.

Question 4 As of 30 September 2023, there were 34 fully protected nurses actively employed by a GP Practice (excluding those who were active with an out of hours provider), who were on or over the age of 55 as of 30 September 2023, and had some previous service in the 2008 section.   Please read the below notes to ensure correct understanding of the data. 

Caveats

This FOI has been answered using a script written for a previous FOI. In reviewing the old code, several minor changes have been made to correct flaws or incorporate newer understanding of the data. This may lead to inconsistency when compared with previously provided data, however the information in this response is the most up to date. Regarding Questions 1, 3, and 4, members may not be active today, as they may have terminated their employment after 30 September 2023. Members currently employed with an ‘Out of Hours Provider’ (as of today) have been excluded, even if the GP Practice post in question was not an ‘Out of Hours Provider.’ 5 year breaks are calculated based on service dates held as employments in our database. Service held elsewhere, such as transfer in credits, cannot be assessed. As per the clarification provided, Questions 3 and 4 have included any member with previous eligible 1995 or 2008 service respectively. This service may have been claimed or may be deferred awaiting a pension claim. It may be linked to the ongoing 2015 scheme, or may be decoupled. A member may have both 1995 and 2008 eligible service.

Glossary

Active Member – Member had an ongoing employment on 30/09/2023.
Nurse – An employment marked as capacity code 01 (Nurse (excluding Nursery Nurse), Midwife, Health Visitor, Physiotherapist).
Out of Hours provider – An Employing Authority which provides GP out of hours cover outside of normal practice hours. Special Class Status – An employment marked as employment type 7 (Restructuring Special Class). Fully Protected – Member was protected from having to transition to the 2015 Scheme on 01/04/2015. McCloud regulations forced all active members to move to the 2015 Scheme on 01/04/2022. Eligible Service – Service which is either liable for pension benefits, or has already been claimed as part of a benefit claim.

Please note that this request and our response is published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:    https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-01463

Data Queries 

If you have any queries regarding the data provided, or if you plan on publishing the data please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference. This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

If you plan on producing a press or broadcast story based upon the data please contact communicationsteam@nhsbsa.nhs.uk This is important to ensure that the figures are not misunderstood or misrepresented. 

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http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/  

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