Thank you for your request for information about the following:  

Request 

Please confirm the following for the Employer Helpline, the Scheme Member Helpline and the Pensions Online Helpdesk for the period 1st January 2026 to 31st March 2026 inclusive on a month by month basis:  

1. Total Calls Received 
2. Longest Waiting Time 
3. Shortest Waiting Time 
4. Average Waiting Time 
5. Total Abandoned Calls  

Please provide the information in the same format as FOI 03500 dated 29th January 2026 

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) received your request on 2 May 2026  

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 and a copy of the information is attached. 

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

The Pensions Online (POL) Helpdesk is part of the Employer Helpline (option 2 on the call directory). Because of this shared queue, we are only able to separate calls received. Metrics, waiting times and abandoned calls will continue to reflect the overall activity of the employer helpline. 

From end of February 2026, certain changes to the phone system were made, meaning customer selections are now recorded differently. As a result, we can no longer provide some of the previous call figures, including the number of calls received at the POL Helpdesk, from that date onwards, and this is likely to continue going forward.  

Data Queries 

Please contact foirequests@nhsbsa.nhs.uk ensuring you quote the above reference if you have any specific questions regarding this response; or, if you feel you may be misunderstanding or misinterpreting the information; or, if you plan on publishing the data. 

Reusing the data and copyright 

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. 

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and is subject to NHSBSA copyright. This information is licenced under the terms of the Open Government Licence detailed at: 

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

Should you wish to re-use the information you must include the following statement: “NHSBSA Copyright 2026”. Failure to do so is a breach of the terms of the licence. 

Information you receive which is not subject to NHSBSA Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. Please obtain their permission before reproducing any third party (non NHSBSA Copyright) information.