WIREDGOV

A New Year Healthcheck has been launched by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) to provide free expert advice to NHS organisations on finding new back office savings in 2018.

Subject matter experts from NHS SBS will offer one-to-one consultations on areas such as VAT, procurement and recruitment, allowing those working in the NHS back office to hear how their current processes and systems compare to good practice examples from across the NHS.

The free half-hour taster sessions have been designed with a no pressure and no obligation approach, tailored to offer useful hints and tips to those working in NHS finance, procurement and workforce functions.

The initiative is part of a drive by NHS SBS to highlight the innovative ways that NHS organisations can make time and cost savings in the back office, helping them achieve national efficiency targets and move up performance league tables in 2018.

David Morris, NHS SBS Managing Director, explained:

“With NHS organisations working tirelessly to cope with what many clinicians have described as the most pressured winter they have ever known, the potential efficiency savings that are available in today’s back office are more important than ever before.

“As NHS providers and commissioners look to find cost savings that can be redirected to frontline patient care, our New Year Healthcheck campaign aims to provide helpful suggestions on finding tangible ways to improve their current back office systems and processes.

“Our expert teams have a unique mix of NHS and commercial experience and can use these sessions to provide invaluable advice, sharing relevant experience from working with many different NHS organisations across the country.”

NHS SBS experts will be on hand to discuss a range of diverse topics in informal Healthcheck sessions (listed below) that are free-of-charge to those working in NHS organisations.

Finance & Accounting

• VAT Quality Assurance healthcheck – with an NHS VAT expert covering the latest HMRC guidance on tax.
   
• Financial Insights healthcheck – with an NHS finance professional to begin to explore how current finance practice improvements can have a positive impact in relation to industry standards, e.g. Future Focused Finance (FFF) and Lord Carter metrics.

 Procurement

• Accountable Care Systems (ACS) contracting healthcheck – with an NHS procurement specialist to share insights from supporting over 30 NHS commissioners through the complex contracting process of developing an ACS.   
   
• NHS procurement healthcheck – with NHS procurement expert to review any specific challenges and offer a highlight report with recommendations.

Employment Services

• Recruitment healthcheck – with a highly-experienced NHS recruitment expert on attracting and retaining the best people for the lowest outlay.
   
• Automation healthcheck – with an ePay specialist to hear how this technology can be tailored to unlock savings across NHS travel, expenses, salary claims, absences and HR forms.

The Healthcheck consultations can be arranged here and more information is available at www.sbs.nhs.uk/transforming-healthcheck. Sessions can be booked until the end of February 2018 and should be taken before the end of May 2018.