June 2024 - update

Archive folders

From the 1 July 2024 the Archive folders, saved within the G/Finance and Procurement will become Read Only.

Linking Codes in SBS

To assist with reducing the number of adjustments to transactions that are coded to the wrong subjective code, we're asking for some support across the department to confirm any linking of codes with colleagues in Financial Management to ensure both cost centre and subjective codes are correct. This will also help in making sure unused/interim cost centres aren't being used and expenditure is correctly aligned.Please can you contact the following Financial Management staff to check and confirm both the cost centre and subjective codes are correct. 

Community – Anthony Mee, Ben Ormrod, Chelsea Anderson, Zoe Simms

TWSS – Claire Jackson, Jake Litherland

Secure – Laura Jessop, Carol Smith

Mental Health – Frank Draper, Diane Maines

Food Bank/Homeless Charity

Frank is continuing to support the Food Bank due to the success over the Christmas period. If anyone has any items that can be spared, please bring them in. 

For further information and deatil of what the food banks are currently asking for, please follow this link Give Help | North Liverpool Foodbank

As well as donations to the foodbank, if anybody has any clothes they not longer want to keep, please bring them into Hollins Park and Frank will pass onto the Homeless charity. 

Self Serve - Finance Helpdesk

Finance and Procurement would like to send a reminder that all invoice and order queries should now be raised through the self-service portal

self-service platform

Suppliers are to email enquiries to purchasetopay@merseycare.nhs.uk

The self service portal should be the first choice for any queries, but the new phone line is also available on 01925 972 767

More detail can be found in the November finance update in the "Digital Improvements and Innovation" section. It contains a full guide on how to access and includes a user guide. 

November 2023 - update :: YourSpace Mersey Care

HFMA Bitesize

We want to make you aware that we have renewed our subscription with HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association (hfma.org.uk)) (Bitesize Courses (hfma.org.uk)), and we now hold a number of licenses that need to be used throughout the subscription term.  Please can you raise the awareness to your staff that courses are available to them.Examples of available courses for Free

• NHS budgeting (England) - how to use budgets to help manage services.
• Personal health budgets (England) - how patients can commission their NHS care.
• Procurement in the NHS (England) - how NHS organisations buy goods and services.
• Health economics (UK) - how best use can be made of the limited resources in the NHS.

You can access the Bitesize courses via the following methods: 

• Create an account on the NHS Learning Hub where you can then search for HFMA courses - Catalogue (learninghub.nhs.uk)
• Create an account on the HFMA website if you've not already got one. You can then log in and access the courses HFMA Bitesize

Support

If you have any questions about accessing the free courses please email your training leads - Daniel.Williamson@merseycare.nhs.uk or Lee.Gough@merseycare.nhs.uk

One NHS Finance Annual Review

The 2023-2024 One NHS Finance annual review has now been published! 

Over the past year, the One NHS Finance programme has continued to work to support and develop the NHS finance community and made great progress in achieving the ambitions set out in the National Finance Development Strategy.

Thank you for your continued support of our programme, and we look forward to working together to achieve even greater success in the future.

Read the Annual Review here.

Launch of new strategy to support recruitment & retention

I am delighted to announce the launch of the new NHS Finance Promotion, Recruitment, and Retention strategy and action plan, which has been in development over the last 12 months. The strategy aims to transform how we attract and retain talent within our finance teams and addresses critical challenges such as inconsistent recruitment approaches and unfilled vacancies, with a clear vision to make the NHS the number one employer for finance careers.

The strategy is underpinned by three national objectives: 1. Promoting NHS Finance Careers – which already a great deal of work and achievements have been delivered and made through the Future-Focused Finance workstream and networks, 2. Inclusive Recruitment Processes – an area we have already begun to explore through the Academy, with new exciting initiatives underway such as the NHS Finance Insights Placement scheme, and 3. Retaining and Developing Our People – we’re proud to offer fantastic development programmes through the Finance Academy, such as our suite of development programs and the new inclusive Talent Management strategy.

We are aware there’s more work to be done to ensure everyone in NHS finance has opportunities for development and progression, and to improve communications of what is available through ONF, HFMA, and SDN. The strategy includes an action-plan based on these objectives, aiming to be a helpful resource to support finance staff, managers, CFOs, and the regions to take steps towards becoming a much more inclusive and dynamic NHS finance function. I hope you welcome this new opportunity, as it undoubtedly holds numerous benefits and opportunities for our colleagues and with time I anticipate that we will begin to see tangible positive impacts on our workforce.

Career Shapers - applications open

Career Shapers is aimed at Band 2-4 finance professionals looking to progress their career in the near future. The programme is delivered through a combination of online modules, an in-person event, and networking opportunities.

The programme includes interactive, peer-led training and development sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.

The Aspiring Deputies National Talent Pool – applications open

Our newest development programme is suitable for colleagues ready to take the next step in their career to become Deputy Director of Finance. 

This programme involves an initial 2-day development centre in Birmingham on 5 & 6 November, followed by in-person/online masterclasses and ongoing support.

Accelerate! Deputies development programme – applications open

The Accelerate! programme is specifically designed for Deputy Finance Directors who aspire to progress their careers to the next level.

The programme includes both NHS and external speakers to explore interactive, challenging, and thought-provoking sessions to help you prepare for your progression and future leadership roles. Delivered through a two-day, face-to-face event in September each year.

Inclusion and Diversity Ambassador showcases

We are pleased to bring you a new series of showcase sessions delivered by our Inclusion and Diversity Ambassadors.

Across the country, ambassadors are working hard to implement positive change and introduce new initiatives that support staff and promote EDI topics. Through these sessions, you have the opportunity to learn how to do this within your own organisations and regions. Book on below:

26 June, 11am to 12pm - Journey of setting up a Disability Staff Network.

3 July, 11am to 12pm - Supporting individuals to bring their whole selves to work.

The Skills Development Network brings together training and development opportunities for Finance, Procurement and Digital staff across the whole of the NHS.

Behind the scenes - lunchtime sessions

A day in the life of a Data Analyst

At the recent “behind the scenes” lunchtime session the NW student forum planned, there was really good attendance. The next lunchtime session is taking place on Wednesday, 17 July at 12pm and our speaker will be Kelly Anderson from West Lancashire Teaching Hospital.

This session will give you an insight into the role of a Data Analyst and how Kelly’s role supports patient care.

This is available to all staff currentloy studying as well as anyone interesting in hearing about the role of a Data Analyst.

To book please go to the SDN website www.skillsdevelopmentnetwork.com and we look forward to seeing you at the virtual session

Thanks for your continuing support

On behalf of the NW Student Forum

Sara

Sara Braidwood

North West Skills Student Skills Coordinator

 Events available through the Skills Development Network

NEWS AND COMMENTS

Budget leaves Northern Ireland facing health cuts

Last week’s budget for 2024/25 announced by the Northern Ireland Executive, the first since the restoration of power sharing, leaves health and care services facing a cut in funding, according to the country’s health minister.

Nuffield Trust sets out steps for social care reform

The next government will need to boost funding for adult social care to expand access to publicly funded services and provide fair fees to providers as part of a comprehensive reform package, according to the Nuffield Trust.

Study says virtual wards reduce hospital admissions and cut costs

Virtual wards are reducing non-elective admissions to hospitals and delivering financial savings, according to an analysis in the South-East of England.

Clarity on NHS plans needed as election campaign gets underway

With lengthy waiting lists, industrial action and major financial challenges, the NHS and social care will be in the spotlight in the run up to a general election like never before.

HFMA top 10 online sessions 2023/24

Catch up on some of the best online sessions from the HFMA's programme over the last year, covering topics ranging from population health management and environmental sustainability to what it takes to be a top-performing finance director.

UPCOMING HFMA EVENTS

Financial sustainability across the four nations

16 May | 1 day | online

Free places available for hub partners

CFO leadership forum

23 May | 1 day | London

Free places available for hub partners

HFMA bands 2 to 6: governance and audit – an introduction

4 June | 12.00 | online

Free for all HFMA members

Making the case for PDEL (preventative departmental expenditure limits)

4 June | 09.30 | webinar

Free for all NHS staff

How using pharmacogenomics can drive cost savings and deliver better patient outcomes

10 June | 13.30 | webinar

Mental health and learning disabilities online forum 2024: key updates from the sector

13 June | 10.45 | online

Free for all HFMA members

HFMA members' summer series

18-20 June | 3 days | online

Free for all HFMA members

Environmental sustainability series 2024

1-3 July | 09.30 | online

Free places available for hub partners

Efficiency and productivity in healthcare 2024

11 September | 1 day | London

Discounted rates for hub partners

HFMA annual conference 2024

2-6 December | 5 days | online and in London

We are thrilled to announce an electrifying addition to this year's HFMA annual conference: the one and only Louis Theroux will be closing the conference with an exclusive fireside chat!

Louis Theroux, renowned for his captivating documentaries and insightful interviews, will join us for an engaging conversation, shedding light on his unique approach to storytelling and sharing anecdotes from his career. 

Joining Louis on stage will be Suzanne Tracey, former HFMA President (2010-11), who will lead the discussion, providing her own expertise and perspective on the topics at hand.

Here's what else you can expect from this not-to-be-missed event, running from 2-6 December in London and online:

• a three day live conference programme from London, including over 15 keynote speakers from NHS and industry leaders
• a five day online ticket option, including exclusive online content and resources
• a chance to network with new and old colleagues at a national level
• captivating exhibition space including a chance to win in our annual exhibition prize draw
• the coveted HFMA NHS finance awards and gala dinner
• a series of wellbeing fringe events including yoga and meditation.

Don’t miss your chance to attend the NHS finance event of the year, we do hope you can join us either virtually or in person. 

You've got until 30 June to get your early booker discounted face-to-face ticket. You can also get 15% off the prevailing online licence rate when they are purchased alongside one or more face-to-face tickets.

View all of our upcoming events here, including those hosted by your local HFMA branch.

NHS charitable funds - finance and governance

16 October, 110 Rochester Row, London

The regulatory and accounting framework for charities is vastly different to that of NHS bodies. Staying up to date with any changes to practices and procedures is extremely important but can be challenging for NHS finance staff.

Join us and NHS Charities Together in London for a day of sessions and workshops that will bring you up to date with key issues and recent changes and increase your knowledge on a range of relevant topics.

Alongside a keynote talk from Ellie Orton OBE, CEO of NHS Charities Together, key topics in the programme include: 

• SORP update
• policy update from the Charity Finance Group

• introduction to charity regulation for those new to NHS charities.

The conference is open to all those working full-time for an NHS charity and those who work predominantly for NHS bodies with charities being part of their remit. 

Great news! Esther has been nominated for the HFMA Outstanding Individual Award 2024! 

Update: 6 June 2024 - Esther has had news that she has been Highly Commended and is Runner Up. Well done Esther! 

Detail of the nomination can be found below.

Nominee: Esther Steele

History: Esther has worked in the NHS for 39 years, starting her career in Procurement and eventually leading the Procurement Team. In 2000, Esther changed careers to NHS finance and became a CIMA-qualified accountant. She now works in management accounts supporting the Secure Division at Mersey Care. Sadly (for us), Esther is due to retire in September 2024.

Notable Achievements: Esther has always supported staff and encouraged individuals to grow. She has mentored many staff and has watched them blossom.

Esther introduced the undergraduate programme. It has been a real success, and we have seen numerous undergraduates return to NHS Finance and go on to have successful careers. I believe this is fundamentally due to the care and attention Esther put into the undergraduates while they were on their placement; she ensured they had a whole experience developing essential competencies.

Esther was the FSD lead for several years, and during this time, Esther led the staff development and successfully achieved a level 3 accreditation for Towards Excellence. This was a fantastic achievement as Mersey Care, at the time, was only one of four Trusts in the Nort West to get this.

Esther is qualified as a coach and regularly coaches junior staff. Esther also sits on the Staff Development Steering Group, contributes to innovative work development, and supports this rollout across the department.

Whilst Esther has supported the entire department, the supportive development she provides is felt in the FM team that she works with; the Secure FM team has had a good track record of developing staff coming through the team who are now within more senior roles within the trust and gaining promotions externally.  This has benefited substantive staff and apprentice / undergraduate staff who have spent time within the team.

Five Words:

Caring—constantly checking up on colleagues and offering support personally and professionally. If anyone on the team is upset or struggling with something, Esther is the one they go to for support and advice. She is a fantastic nurturer.

Persistent – doesn’t give up on a task no matter how difficult it seems, always willing to learn and develop her skills. Esther is not afraid to tackle a difficult situation with a direct approach and a steely determination.

Passionate – has always had a passion for training and supporting staff to get the best out of them and is always very patient. She is also passionate about the services she supports and is well-loved by the Division she supports.

Professional—She has always taken a friendly but professional approach when speaking to budget holders, commissioners, or colleagues. Esther is proud to be part of NHS finance and holds high standards.

Calm—Whatever the situation, Esther remains calm, which creates an excellent environment for others to feel confident about learning and growing. Esther always ensures her team and colleagues are ok and is respected and looked up to.

Testimonials

Lisa Rens -Associate Director of Strategic Operations Secure Operational Director

Esther works tirelessly to educate others and ensure all who work with her benefit from her experience.  Esther works with new clinical managers and established managers who may need financial support, and I believe her approach is faultless; she adapts how she works with each person, she never makes anyone feel inadequate, and she ensures they develop the right skills in a way that suits them demonstrating her patience.  Due to this, she is extremely approachable, there is never a daft question, and Esther develops an ethos that not only is it ok to check, but it is best to check.

We are a diverse service that has gone through a lot of change, opening, closing, moving and merging services, which at times has been fraught; however, Esther has remained calm, quickly picks apart an issue to get to the bottom of it before considering the best way forward in a way so others in the finance team understand and learn from her support in decision making but also so do the clinical managers.  I frequently hear clinical managers say, let's check with Esther, as they value her advice and working in busy clinical environments, they know she will respond quickly and in the best way for patients.  Esther never forgets that she supports a busy clinical service, understands the ever-changing pressures, and has made a difference in patient care by supporting and educating the clinical managers to get the most from their budgets.

Esther is based within the finance team, and it is very evident in the support she shows the new accountants, it makes me stop and smile when I see the new accountants gaining the most from clinical managers by adopting Esther’s approach – I know we are in safe hands.  Esther is also a valued and unique member of the Divisional management team; like an elder statesman, we stop to listen to her views and suggestions as we know her experience is invaluable. I can’t think of any problems (and we have had a few) that Esther hasn’t wanted to help us with whilst always trying to ensure others gain valuable experience of working through issues. I always value her thoughts and will often ask what Esther thinks we should do – she will keep us safe.

There are many great people in the NHS, and Esther stands out because of her approach and dedication to educating others. The NHS as a whole would benefit if we could bottle her approach and share it with everyone.

Patrick Creegan Capital Accounts (Finance Alumni)

I first met Esther when I was a graduate trainee in finance, and her passion for supporting both the services and the development of others shone through from day one. Esther's passion for learning and development for others is clear to see, as she is always looking for new opportunities for others to get involved in tasks that will provide them with skills for the future. In addition, she ensures that time can be carved out, even at busy times, to complete team tasks for learning and ensures that other managers look to provide these learning opportunities where possible. I can firmly say that I owe a lot of my early development to Esther, as she always ensured I was getting involved in new things, being stretched to learn and had my name in conversations when new openings arose, which wouldn’t have been possible without her.

Esther’s calm and caring attitude with those around her is vital to creating a positive culture within her team. She is always there to guide us as to a way forward and doesn’t look to blame for issues; instead, she looks to show how things should be done and allows people to learn. Helping create this culture will enable people to relax and be themselves, which leads to all the positive work provided by her team.

Esther’s selfless attitude to always help others at the sacrifice of her own time just highlights what a great asset and benefit she is to the NHS. However, her impact goes far beyond the work she produces. She is truly a great person whose positive influence has been felt across the trust.

Danny Williamson Assistant Director of Finance – Secure Division

I’ve worked with Esther at various stages of my career in the NHS.

She was my first line manager, coming into a role following university.

I felt supported & encouraged to learn & develop; I started the professional qualification journey then.

Coming full circle over 15 years and leading a team Esther is part of, I still see the support, encouragement, and enthusiasm for developing staff. This is very evident within her FM divisional team, which has seen a lot of individual progress with staff developing into promotional opportunities.

Winners will be announced during the HFMA NW Conference 6^th & 7^th June 2024 - Good Luck Esther! We're all rooting for you! 

Monthly Fraud Update – May 2024

We received 2 fraud notices from MIAA in May.

Details of these are shown below.

Please note that the Trust systems have already been checked and are not at risk from the specific frauds identified.

Any questions or queries please let me know.

Regards

Mike

Mike Jones

Financial Accountant (Assurance)

Mob: 07939304068

FPC-05-24-25 – HMRC (Mandate Fraud)

We have been notified of a mandate fraud in relation to HMRC whereby fraudsters have been sending either a letter or VAT 484 form purporting to be from organisations requesting a change of bank account details. HMRC then confirm this in writing to the business, but just that an unspecified change has been made.

This is prevalent in organisations where they are due a refund from HMRC.

Action to take:

• If you get notified by HMRC that unspecified details have been amended, you must act quickly and check that you have, in fact, requested such a change. If a change of bank account change has been requested by a fraudster, it is imperative that you contact HMRC and let them know such a change request has been bogus.
• Ensure relevant staff are made aware of this fraudster MO, and to remain vigilant for HMRC correspondence.
• Report any issues like this and/ or any losses identified to your Anti-Fraud Specialist

FPC-06-24-25 – Mandate Fraud (Wireless Logic)

We have been notified of a fraud attempt in relation to Wireless Logic (they “connect, control and secure the Internet of Things”)

Some of their customers have been receiving email communications claiming to be Wireless Logic asking for a change in bank details for payments.

They have not changed their bank account details in the last few months.

Action to take:

• Check whether Wireless Logic is a supplier and, if so, review any recent or ongoing communications from the organisation to ensure this is with the genuine supplier using the appropriate email domain. If in doubt telephone their existing contact number (0330 056 3268).
• Ensure relevant staff are made aware of this fraudster MO, and to remain vigilant for any mandate change request
• Report any local contact with regard to this alert and / or any losses identified to your Anti-Fraud Specialist

Click here to view the SDN vacancies: NHS Skills Development Network (NHS SDN)

Date: 29 May 2024

Reference Number: 2614

To: All NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Provider Clients

Subject: INFORMATION - Scheduled Maintenance & Release Work

To continue to support you and your organisations in completing their Year End Accounts activities, we have had no release or maintenance work planned during weekends in May, so the Oracle E-Business Suite & Business Intelligence systems will remain available for normal use.

As part of our ongoing improvement and maintenance programmes, we confirm the upcoming work plans and the potential impacts. This work includes:

• Non-downtime release work Tuesday 28 May
• Upcoming systems access notice

Non-downtime release work Tuesday 28 May

We implemented general maintenance and support fix release work this week which did not involve any system downtime to complete. Details of the work can be found in the table below:

Future systems access notice

Future release and maintenance work notice; these activities will require system downtime over certain weekends, meaning access to all our Production environments may not be available for certain periods:

June 2024

• Saturday 15 June - from 18:00 Friday 14 & into Saturday 15 June we will be performing planned Oracle infrastructure maintenance work. All interfaces and file uploads will be suspended prior to this work commencing. We therefore strongly recommend that users ensure all relevant interfaces or uploads are completed as early as possible before 16:00 Friday 14 June. The overnight BI refresh will also be suspended Friday evening but resume Saturday 15 June.
• Saturday 22 June - is our scheduled release weekend for new functionality and fixes. Depending on the content of the release work there may be some system downtime during the day (times to be confirmed closer to the work).

July 2024

• Saturday 13 July - from 18:00 Friday 12 & into Saturday 13 July we will be performing planned Oracle infrastructure maintenance work. All interfaces and file uploads will be suspended prior to this work commencing. We therefore strongly recommend that users ensure all relevant interfaces or uploads are completed as early as possible before 16:00 Friday 12 July. The overnight BI refresh will also be suspended Friday evening but resume Saturday 13 July.
• Saturday 20 July – Saturday 20 July we will be performing planned Interface Hub and Middleware half-yearly patching. During this work access to the Oracle E-Business Suite & Business Intelligence systems will remain available, but access to any Tradeshift images and the ability to use the File Upload facility will be unavailable between 08:00-12:00.

 Upcoming Training

Our next sessions for the "Overview of the Business Intelligence Functionality" are planned for:

• Thursday 13 June 2024 13:30 – 14:30
• Thursday 18 July 2024 13:30 – 14:30
• Thursday 15 August 2024 13:30 – 14:30

Our next Pay Per Person Training course for "Business Intelligence (BI) Report Writing / Superuser" is planned for:

• Tuesday 18 June 2024 09:30 - 16:30
• Tuesday 16 July 2024 09:30 - 16:30
• The schedule for 2024 is available on the Training Zone

We have monthly free webinars throughout 2024, please find the full schedule on the Training Zone. For any further information please contact SBS-W.SBSTraining@nhs.net

Date: 28 May 2024

Reference Number: 2613

To: All NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Provider Clients

Subject: ACTION - Supplier Set Up & Amendment Process Update

As part of our data exit project in readiness for migration to Oracle Fusion, we are cleansing the Supplier data. Below are details and key messages for the cleanse:

Key Messages

ACTION: During a recent review of our supplier set up and amendment processes, the following process changes are required to be followed with immediate effect. In order to keep the supplier data clean & enriched, client approvers must reject any requests that do not contain all of the following information, if these are not rejected at source NHS SBS will reject the request:

Supplier:

• Valid contact details - Phone number, PO & remittance email addresses, key for supplier engagement and communication
• Valid bank details
• Correct payment method and terms
• Correct supplier address – complete with City, Post Code and State (when required)
• Supplier Classification type
• Supplier file is checked for existing supplier record – to avoid potential duplicate suppliers & sites being created 

It is important that all key details match what appears on the invoice, to ensure invoices are uploaded onto Oracle correctly. This will avoid any unnecessary exceptions, and will result in invoices being ready for payment, quicker.

Date: 21 May 2024

Reference Number: 2609

To: All NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Provider Clients Community

Subject: INFORMATION - Supplier Data Cleanse

As part of our data exit project in readiness for migration to Oracle Fusion, we are cleansing the Supplier data. Below are details and key messages for the cleanse:

Key Messages

In order to keep the data clean & enriched, it is vital that when approving supplier set up requests, they are completed with:

Supplier:

• Valid contact details - Phone number, PO & remittance email addresses, key for supplier engagement and communication
• Valid bank details
• Correct payment method and terms
• Correct supplier address – complete with City, Post Code and State (when required)
• Supplier Classification type
• Supplier file is checked for existing supplier record – to avoid potential duplicate suppliers & sites being created

Below is detail about how we are cleansing the data and progress on the project:

Supplier Cleanse Approach Detail

Two tier cleanse:

• Supplier header cleanse
• Supplier site cleanse

Data enrichment:

Collecting missing data

• PO email address
• Remittance email address
• Post Codes / States / Cities

Amending invalid data

• Post Codes / States / Cities
• Invalid emails

Please note, all supplier validation checks are in line with our Supplier Maintenance processes and audit checks. If there are any details we cannot find or confirmation is required from a supplier, the team are contacting the supplier directly to confirm. All Tradeshift, Edge4Health and Powergate links are re-established once a cleanse has been performed.

Please continue to review the Interface Rejection workflow on a daily basis, if there are any urgent payments that need to be made post supplier merger please raise this with the Interface Rejection team. A request to move all invoices on a merged supplier is sent immediately post cleanse of supplier.

A merger report will be sent on a weekly basis, informing you of any merger to a supplier and / or a supplier site, with the old supplier name and VSR number and the, new supplier name and VSR number. This report will be sent to the client approver list for supplier set up and amendments.

Date: 24 May 2024

Reference Number: 2611

To: All NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Provider Clients

Subject: ACTION - Audit Adjustment – ADJ Period Re-opening and 2^nd Rollover of balances

As per the Year End timetable, we will be undertaking the Final Audit Adjustment activity (posting of the audit journals) from the 20 June 2024.

What we need from you

We require the journals that you would like NHS SBS to post, which should include one adjustment journal and one reversing accrual journal (if required). Any reversals will be posted into the current period (Jun-24).

To ensure that we do not miss any, please forward your email to sbs-w.financialmail@nhs.net by Friday 14 June 2024, with an email subject; ‘’your entity code’’ and “Audit Adjustment Journals” containing the following:

• Confirmation whether an audit adjustment is required (NIL returns are also required)
• Copies of the required journals for NHS SBS to process. (please ensure all code combinations are enabled)

Please note that if, by the end of Friday 14 June 2024, we have not received any correspondence, we would assume that you have no audit adjustments for NHS SBS to process.

What happens next

NHS SBS will then arrange for the ADJ-24 period to be re-opened and will process the journal(s) (between 20 Jun and 24 Jun 2024). A revised Trial Balance will then be produced and forwarded to you once the journals have successfully posted to the ledger.

The trial balance will be sent the next working day. However, if you require this any earlier a trial balance can be run locally through BI (A12 report).

With regard to rollovers, if you initially requested that NHS SBS undertake the rollovers on the form you completed regarding your Year End Ledger Close, we will rollover any appropriate journal balances into the June 2024 period. We will not, however, process the rollover unless you confirm that the Trial Balance agrees with your final accounts and approve the second Rollover template when this is sent to you. The Rollover is planned to be started from the 20 Jun 2024 therefore we will require the latest approval to be sent by 28 Jun 2024.

Welcome to the One NHS Finance - Finance Innovation Forum Newsletter.

It has been a productive quarter for the Forum with the arrival of the Engagement Value Outcome (EVO) Handbook and in a new development trusts do not need to be producing Quarterly PLICS to apply. See our Q&A event below and read the application guide for details. We are also happy to open bookings for a technical RPA event, focused on the successes and challenges staff have encountered when building efficient processes. Finally, thanks to our innovators and peer reviewers for their hard work over the last few months. The Forum is pleased to announce that a record 26 innovations from Cohort 8 have been added to the Innovation library, see below for more information on all of this and more!

PFR Automation Tool

The Provider Finance Return (PFR) Automation Tool, developed with NHS England, has been adopted by over 50 trusts this year reporting an average saving of 2.5 hours for each provider each month. Contributing to an overall saving of 1500+ hours of finance time this year.

If you are still completing the PFR manually find out more here.

Cohort 8 innovations

With a total of 145 peer reviewed innovations now in the innovation library, we are confident there will be something of interest for everyone working in NHS finance.

Thanks again to all who took part in this important process and all 26 innovations as part of Cohort 8 are now available to read. 

View the innovation library here.

Technical RPA: The good the bad and the efficient!

This technical Robotic Process Automation (RPA) online event will explore processes NHS finance staff have automated.

This event will focus on the successes, common challenges and lessons learnt from each implementation and will try to better understand what this emerging Finance Automation Analyst role is.

Date: September 10, 09:00 - 13:00, online.

Book here if you are fired up and excited by more efficient processes!

RPA - Forecast Sheets

TOCA have now finished all of their testing and tweaks for the robotic process which will support in the first step of automating some of the manual process currently undertaken with the forecast sheets in FM. 

As each month the sheets are copied into a new month, with previous months data being fixed, the robot has been designed to drastically shorten the length of time it takes to complete this process, with an average time of 1 minute per forecast sheet.

This includes opening and saving large documents and will therefore save a considerable length of time each  month. 

Users are now set up and the Go-Live date was agreed for the end of May. Some issues have been encountered but now appears to be working perfectly. However due to the go live date being at the end of the calendar month, and prep for Month 2 being started before this, the majority of forecast sheets have been rolled to Month 2 manually.

When forecast sheets are being set up for Month 3, the app will be in full working order and can be used for this process. Staff withaccess can contact Alison if test forecast sheets are required to make sure the process is understood ahead of M2 to M3 roll-over. Contact Alison by clicking this link .

There will be a presentation of the app at the next Away Day, with training being provided to the Forecast Sheet Champions in the meantime. 

RPA - Patients Cash

TOCA have started the development work need to automate of the daily update to the patients statements and ward reports. We hope to see a demonstration of the automation process within the next few weeks.

RPA - Unilink (CMS)

The Patients Cash processes have been mapped and work is ongoing to develop the new applications within CMS that will automate the processing of patients requests/transactions and remove duplication between CMS & Oracle.

Ageism

The NHS Finance Inclusion Conference was held on 8 May 2024 and addressed ageism in the workplace supported by Age Without Limits.  

The slides can be found below as well as a quiz to determine if you have unconscious bias regarding age.

Presentation

Age Without Limits - Facts and Stats

LM Presentation

NP Presentation

TF Presentation

YR Presentation

Detail for Quiz and background