NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Annual Review

Transcription

1 NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Annual Review

2 Adding Value Through Partnership NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Copyright 2017 The text of this document (this excludes all departmental or agency logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that permission is sought and it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought.

3 Contents Introduction from the Managing Director & Chair Reflection on 2016/ Who We Are and What We Do...6 Highlights of Strategic Direction...13 Performance...17 Our People...25 Quality...36 Equality & Diversity...39 Welsh Language...40 Good Practice and Recognition...42 Case Studies...57 Governance...68 Contacts & Further Information

4 About Our Annual Review The Annual Review explains what we do and how we are working to deliver professional, technical and administrative support services to NHS Wales. It explains the importance of working in collaboration with the Health Boards and Trusts to add value through partnership working, ensuring we deliver services that meet their needs. Our priorities for were set out in our Integrated Medium Term Plan (IMTP) , which also sets out our strategic objectives and provides a detailed analysis of our performance in This Annual Review document shows how progress is being made against the plan. 4

5 Introduction from the Managing Director & Chair Welcome to the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) Annual Report for This is our 6th annual report and, as in previous years, shows how we are continually improving our services to meet the demands of our customers and our ongoing commitment to adding value through partnership working. 2016/17 was another year of progress, challenge and transformation on our journey to deliver world class services. Our ongoing conversations with everyone who uses our services have allowed us to continually develop, improve and expand our services by placing their needs at the centre of everything we do. We have already demonstrated significant progress in achieving our key priorities, and our strategic plan shows how we will continue to deliver the further improvements required. We would like to thank our staff, who are committed to delivering high standards of customer service whilst responding to everincreasing demand and transformation. We recognised this during 2016 with our first staff awards, for which individual members of staff and teams were nominated by their peers and managers. We are also pleased that the success and hard work of our staff has been acknowledged independently through the achievement of a number of national awards such as Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), Wales Quality Centre (WQC) and Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA). It is also important to acknowledge the commitment and support of the members of the Shared Services Partnership Committee (SSPC), who represent the Health Boards and Trusts across NHS Wales and ensure that NWSSP s services are meeting the needs of patients in Wales. Margaret Foster, Chair of the Shared Services Partnership Committee (SSPC) As Managing Director and Chairman, we are focused on the continuing transformational journey ahead of us and using the considerable success of this last year as a positive platform on which to build continued success. We are determined to improve and develop further to ensure that all of our services are truly world-class. Neil Frow, Managing Director, NWSSP 5

6 Who We Are and What We Do NWSSP is an independent mutual organisation, owned and directed by NHS Wales. We provide a range of high quality customer-focused professional, technical and administrative functions and services to Health Boards and Trusts in Wales, delivering significant savings and benefits, both qualitative and financial, to the NHS. NWSSP is an integral part of the NHS Wales family, and is led by a Managing Director and Senior Management Team who are accountable to the SSPC. The Committee is composed of representatives from each of the seven Health Board and three NHS Trusts across Wales. We also have a number of sub-committees and advisory groups, which include members drawn from our partners, stakeholders and service users. 6

7 Who We Are and What We Do Our Services Our services are provided through Divisions. An overview of each Division is given below, with more details provided in the individual Delivery Plans. Audit and Assurance Services delivers professional internal audit, assurance and consulting services to NHS Wales. We add value by helping organisations to accomplish their objectives through a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluating and improving the effectiveness of risk management, systems of internal control and governance processes. Over 95% of planned audits completed 400 audit reports Delivery of 91% of draft reports and 96% of final reports within 10 days 35 staff Central Team e-business Services delivers value to our customers (the NHS in Wales) and supports the delivery of world class processes whilst acting as the centre of excellence for service, change and programme management on all matters pertaining to enterprise digital technologies for Finance and Procurement users (FMS Services). Manage All-Wales contract of 7.5m 9 staff Employment Services provides a range of hire to retire services to Secondary and Primary Care in NHS Wales. We provide transactional support and professional and technical advice to help health bodies achieve their strategic workforce and patient care agendas. We work with health bodies and primary care to develop and integrate common operating processes and maximise the use of e-technology to ensure safe recruitment and payment of staff in an efficient and timely manner. 78,000 staff paid monthly 6,000 staff each weekly 13,000 posts advertised 201,118 expenses claims 8,700 DBS checks 329 staff GP Specialty Registrar Trainees (GPSTR) NWSSP manages the Lead Employer for GP Specialty Registrars by offering a professional workforce service to the GP trainees, Health Boards and Practice Managers. The team have developed a collaborative working relationship with the Wales Deanery to deliver both high quality training and employment services. NWSSP is also responsible for employing GP returners and inductees, under a terms of engagement relationship. The Lead Employer service is managed by a team of 3 12 GP Schemes in Wales 160 GP Practices 414 GP trainees Health Courier Services provides a wide range of courier services to NHS Wales, health alliances, local health groups and General Practitioners. We run a fleet of vehicles ranging from cars to 7.5t lorries, which transport items such as mail, laundry, medical records, pathology material, blood products, pharmacy supplies, controlled drugs, nuclear medicine and radioactive isotopes. 5 million movements of pathology and blood samples 400 Emergency response vehicle call outs per year 90 vehicles 127 staff 7

8 Who We Are and What We Do Legal and Risk Services acts for NHS Wales, employing specialist lawyers to provide high quality and cost-effective legal services. Experts in the fields of public law, commission and procurement, employment, property and Court of Protection work regularly advise on challenging work issues. Working closely with the Welsh Risk Pool to improve patient safety by integrated risk management, we seek to disseminate the lessons learned and raise awareness of best practice. 2,750 clinical negligence claims 700 personal injury claims 95 inquests 1000 legal advisory matters 79 staff Primary Care Services provides a wide range of services on behalf of NHS Wales for GPs, community pharmacies, dentists, opticians and appliance contractors. We manage the All-Wales Primary Care Performers Lists and provide advice on performance and contractual issues relating to service provision. We also issue alerts and hazard warning distributions to NHS contractors. 370,000 patient medical record transfers 234 Medical performers onboarded for inclusion to the medical performers list 306 staff Procurement Services provides a complete procurement to payments system, comprising of four areas: strategic procurement, sourcing, accounts payable and supply chain. Procurement Services delivers significant cost savings for NHS Wales, and supports key healthcare service improvement and patient safety priorities. We also support the Welsh Government s sustainable and prudent procurement agendas. 2,800 All-Wales contracts 1.4m invoices processed 33 million stores items 4,500 customers across NHS 489 staff Specialist Estates Services supports strategic change in the healthcare estate, through advice and support to the Welsh Government and the provision of professional estates services to NHS Wales. More specifically, we provide business case scrutiny, construction procurement and design advice, and maintain a suite of construction and consultant frameworks. We also provide a comprehensive property management service, specialist Authorising Engineer (AE) services, engineering validation and the maintenance of estates-related guidance and information. 48 lease management jobs completed in year culminating in savings of 2.043m 11 surplus health related properties disposed of in 2016/17 with total capital receipts of 3.006m 45 staff Student Award Services manages the NHS Wales Bursary Schemes, which provide funding for healthcare students on NHS funded courses in Wales and for Welsh medical and dental students studying elsewhere within the UK. Our robust systems and processes help ensure correct payments are made. 2,500 bursary applications 23m per annum bursary value 1.5m per annum childcare and disability payments 12 staff 8

9 Who We Are and What We Do Welsh Risk Pool Services manages the process of reimbursement of payments made by NHS Wales in respect of successful claims for compensation. It scrutinises the evidence submitted of learning from events, and plays a central role in supporting the quality and improvement agenda through the sharing of good practice and risk management strategies. 75 million budget 384 reimbursements Welsh Risk Pool Committee 6 staff Workforce, Education and Development Services helps ensure NHS Wales has a workforce with the skills to meet the demands of modern day healthcare. We commission healthcare training for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals at universities across Wales. We also work with NHS Wales to develop the existing workforce and to support key transformational and quality improvement agendas. 85 million health profession education budget (non medical) 5,000 students Lower attrition rate 19 staff Digital Workforce Solutions manages the national Electronic Staff Record (ESR) contract for NHS Wales and the delivery of a significant portfolio of workforce efficiencies through the Hire to Retire work programme. Once for Wales is the methodology that underpins this streamlining programme, with deliverables focused around standardisation, automation and portability of data, to maximise efficiencies and enhance the quality of NHS Wales workforce information. A key element of Digital Workforce Solutions is the Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) Programme, providing e-learning support, content design and hosting solutions to NHS Wales organisations and the wider public sector. 3m ESR contract value Approximately 75% of NHS staff have access to Employee Self Service Over 20,000 users per month access e-learning 8 staff Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for testing disposable medical devices, whose reports are accepted and respected worldwide. SMTL is involved in standards development such as gloves, gowns and drapes, dressings, and luer/non-luer connectors. They have developed a number of methods which are published as British or European standards, or pharmacopoeia monographs. SMTL has published widely on areas such as dressings and wound management, latex allergy, medical gloves, silver dressings and safer sharps devices. United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited to ISO17025 the international standard for testing laboratories 16 staff 9

10 Highlights of m efficiency savings generated by Specialist Estates Services through the use of the Designed for Life Framework Health Courier Services delivered 120,000 items of mail and notes per week 6,000 nursing and other clinical training places commissioned through Workforce, Education and Development Services 8,000 audit days undertaken by Audit and Assurance Services 78,000 NHS Wales staff paid monthly and 1.6 million pay-slips issued by Employment Services 40 million prescription forms and 1.2 million ophthalmic claim forms scanned and processed for payment by Primary Care Services 229,400 patient medical records have been transferred to Primary Care Services under the store and scan on demand programme 652,000 orders processed totalling 932m by Procurement Services 1000 legal advisory matters undertaken by Legal and Risk Services 1.58 billion of payments to NHS Wales contractors by Primary Care Services 414 GP trainees employed in Wales supported by the GP Specialty Registrar Team Approximately 75% of NHS staff have access to Employee Self Service supported by the Digital Workforce Solutions Team Electronic Staff Record 2,500 bursary applications received by Student Awards Services 24.5 million purchasing savings made by Procurement Services 10

11 Highlights of Additional Services NWSSP continues to expand its portfolio of services, with the below services transferring in accordance with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE). Surgical Medical Testing Laboratory (SMTL) 17 staff (15.38 WTE) transferred to NWSSP in October SMTL possesses the ISO/IEC accreditation for its testing services, and has significant experience of national and international medical device standards. They have worked closely with NWSSP procurement to deploy value-based technologies and devices across NHS Wales. They have been integral partners in the All Wales Medical Consumables and Devices Strategy Group, undertaking rapid review into medical consumables and devices to understand their value base. SMTL supports clinical procurement to achieve the step change approach required to deliver world class services to the citizens of Wales in a consistent manner. They enable NHS Wales customers to have access to cost-effective, safe and standards-compliant medical devices through the provision of testing, usability assessment and technical advice. Primary Medical Care Advisory Team (PMCAT) 4 (2.45 WTE) staff transferred to NWSSP in PMCAT undertakes investigations of Primary Medical Care Staff who are not meeting the required performance targets, and supports the development plans required. Engagement and consultation is currently underway with Health Boards and Trusts to develop their future work programme and key priorities. Employment Services Are developing and expanding their services to support Primary Care with their recruitment and payroll requirements Stronger affiliation through the management relationship will be established with student awards services. Legal and Risk Services Increase its share of the NHS requirement for legal advice, particularly in the fields of commercial, property, employment, mental health and court of protection work and other health advisory work which is difficult to categorise Development of business and case management information systems for use across the whole service Health Courier Service By 2020, legal and risk will be looking to expand their core business into Primary Care, Social Care and Third Sector. Expanding due to the additional services that will be transferred from Health Boards Partnership to Welsh Blood Services Implementation of controlled transport for pathology. Digital Workforce Solutions Full deployment of ESR development roadmap Full deployment of ESR self service Deployment of ESR occupational health bi-direction Primary Care Services E-learning recruitment on boarding to Welsh Government and other wider public sector bodies. Implementing the NHS Wales Primary Care Services modernisation/ transition programme NHAIS system will be decommissioned Roll-out of electronic transfer of claims. 11

12 Highlights of Relocation of staff and services continues to be essential across NWSSP, to support the NWSSP Accommodation Strategy and to ensure that our premises are fit for purpose. During 2016/17, the below relocations were successfully supported and implemented: Health Courier Services (HCS) Relocated 4 staff from Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, North Wales to Bryn Y Neuadd, Llanfairfechan HCS Relocation from Lansdowne Hospital to Westpoint Industrial Estate. The relocation of 27 staff provided a fit for purpose office location. In addition, significant work has been completed to facilitate the relocation of 124 NWSSP staff from Oldway House, Swansea to Matrix House, Swansea, with formal consultation taking place during The relocation was driven by the desire to improve the office environment for staff and to improve flexibility of the accommodation space, as well as the current office lease not being renewed. During 2016/17 local restructuring was supported within the following services: HCS following their transfer to NWSSP in 2015, HCS has focused on continuing to develop their services, providing further efficiencies for NHS Wales by consolidating runs that were also operating within other service areas. During 2016, the structure was developed to recognise the changing needs of the service, and to strengthen the structure for any future service developments Accounts Payable (AP) Services since the Accounts Payable Service was transferred to NWSSP, it has consolidated previously independent teams into one service for NHS Wales. This has included the development of a helpdesk team to specialise in customer query resolution. During 2016, the AP structure was formally reviewed and a revised structure implemented. 12

13 Strategic Direction We regularly review the existing and emerging strategic themes, from Welsh Government, the wider NHS and the public sector, that are informing our strategic direction. These key themes are summarised below, and have been built into the plans of both NWSSP as a whole (into our overarching goals) and of each service area when developing their delivery plans. Our services are directed and impact upon a number of key national priorities, strategies and policy documents. Driving Efficiency The Lord Carter Review (Operational Performance and Productivity in English NHS Acute Hospitals) calls for the NHS to deliver efficiency improvements through collaboration across the entire healthcare system. Many of the areas highlighted in the Carter report - clinical staff, pharmacy and medicines, diagnostics and imaging, procurement, back-office functions, and estates and facilities are areas where NWSSP can provide systems leadership and business intelligence. We can help health organisations to provide the best possible care for patients within the available resources. The level of compliance of usage in Wales is 81.1% at the end of this financial year. Lord Carter suggests Trusts in England should be operating at 80% by September The existence of a single Oracle platform across Wales provides structure and ease of data access, thanks to the joint vision of Finance and Procurement colleagues 20 years ago. This ensures that Wales has full reporting capability across its non-pay expenditure. Sustainability As an NHS organisation, and as a spender of public funds, we have an obligation to work in a way that has a positive effect on the communities we serve, and an obligation to provide an annual sustainability report in accordance with public sector reporting requirements as outlined within the Financial Reporting Manual. Sustainability means spending public money well, the smart and efficient use of natural resources and building healthy, resilient communities. By making the most of social, environmental and economic assets, we can improve health both in the immediate and long term, even in the context of rising costs of natural resources. NWSSP s Sustainability Report for can be accessed at this link: Sustainability 13

14 Strategic Direction Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 The Well-being of Future Generations Act (WBFGA) sets ambitious, long-term goals to reflect the Wales we want to see, both now and in the future. NWSSP is aware of its obligations under the Act to think about the long-term, to strengthen and improve its working partnerships and to communicate effectively with partners, with a view to working in collaboration to prevent problems and take a more joined up approach to service delivery. We have published a well-being statement, which outlines well-being objectives and explains why we feel the objectives will help us achieve the well-being goals and how they support delivery of the sustainable development principle. NWSSP ensured that its managers, staff and stakeholders were involved in agreeing the objectives, to demonstrate a commitment to achieving the goals. The well-being statement also includes consideration of the geographic and demographic areas covered by NWSSP s services. Progress will be monitored quarterly and an annual summary of performance will be published in the Annual Review You can learn more about NWSSP s approach to creating its well-being statement and well-being objectives by reading the well-being statement at this link: 14

15 Strategic Direction Prudent Healthcare We are helping to make prudent healthcare happen for NHS Wales through our system leadership and support roles. Some of the ways in which we are supporting the three main areas of required national action: APPROPRIATE tests, treatments and medications Value-based procurement of medical consumables and devices to ensure that NHS Wales uses products which are clinically effective and that good clinical evidence which supports their appropriate use Ensuring appropriate activation of Emergency Transport based on clinical need, agreed with NHS partners including Welsh Blood Service, to provide immediate Non Patient Blue Light Response Service for Blood, Transplant Services, Specialist Histopathology and Operating Theatre equipment. Changing the Model of OUTPATIENTS Developing an early ophthalmic data warehouse for Wales by Primary Care Services Working with Welsh Government to develop primary care workforce data for Wales. Public services WORKING TOGETHER to improve healthcare Working with universities to streamline recruitment of healthcare students, so that individuals are offered posts based on their preferences at the end of their course without the need to complete multiple applications Extending e-learning to GP Practices, Local Authorities and Welsh university health students for early access to NHS Wales learning materials, enabling portability and avoidable re-training. EMPOWERING and ENABLING public, professionals and public service leaders Developing a Once for Wales approach to information delivery; providing operational data to front line professionals; enabling aggregated performance management information at national, Health Board and local/cluster levels We have also considered how we are able to adopt prudent principles in the way we provide and develop our own services. 15

16 Strategic Direction The Needs and Challenges of Our Partners As a support organisation, we have to ensure that we are meeting the needs and challenges of our partners. This has been the most austere decade in terms of funding growth, and the Health Foundation have outlined that 600m savings are required to support the sustainability of the NHS in Wales. This undoubtedly places great financial pressures on our partners, and in response to those pressures we have a key role in ensuring sustainable workforce and finance. We have engaged with our partners to understand what they want from us over the next three years. This is evidenced by each of the divisions in their delivery plans. Below are the key areas highlighted during all of our ongoing conversations. Added value Hire to Retire Service Support to deliver the learning from the Lord Carter NHS efficiency review in England to NHS Wales Transform processes using technology & social media Improved data quality delivering real-time information Reduction in agency costs by supporting the development of an All Wales bank Continued development of the accounts payable process Review the opportunity to deliver an All Wales Occupational Health Service Support to enable the required integration with social services The need to commission more health students Develop and establish a Welsh Language hub Further support to the national primary care plan and the primary care cluster actions plan 16

17 Performance Our Integrated Medium Term Financial Plan (IMTP) for 2016/17 had a number of priorities within nine overarching goals. The next pages highlight our achievement against these goals. Goal 1 - We have a balanced financial plan and will use our resources effectively to address additional service pressures and demand Exceeded financial targets m additional savings achieved Exceeded procurement savings target m achieved against a target of 20m Annual saving of 9.6m on tuition fees and bursaries when compared to performance across English HEI Achieved cost efficiencies across Hire to Retire transactional services Applied allocative efficiency principles by investing in value added services, in particular procurement services, employment and legal services, to deliver further savings and meet increased demand Reduction in annual budget of 18% (recurring) by primary care service, whilst expanding services and improving transactional accuracy rates Significant progress has been made in addressing staff sickness and the target of 3.3% was narrowly missed. Goal 2 -We will continuously enhance and improve the quality of all of our services Centrally undertaken the Certificate of Sponsorship management for NHS Wales, reducing risk and costs Introduced new service delivery models, including provision of 24 Hour cover within HCS and expanding Blue Light Non Patient Emergency Transport Implementation of TRAC has decreased the average Wales vacancy approval time from 45 days to 12 days Statutory and Mandatory training has consistently been above 90%, higher than the compliance target of 85% Appointed Welsh Language Officer and 50 members of staff attended Welsh language courses Introduced annual staff recognition awards and linked pay progression to innovation and compliance with core values PSPP improvement needed more focus to deliver at pace More pace and progress needed in standardisation of processes and investment in technology to deliver savings Introduced workshops and focus groups to help in the standardisation of processes and obtain agreement to take forward initiatives to deliver savings and improve quality of service. 17

18 Performance Goal 3 - We will maximise efficiency, effectiveness and value for money, providing system leadership in applying the lessons from the Lord Carter Report and driving forward the benefits of the Future Generations Act Provided approximate savings of 600k p.a., based on internal auditor day rates of 350 in comparison to commercial audit day rates of 500 Undertook a series of engagement presentations with NHS bodies so they understand how they can benefit from Value Based Procurement Achieved an 80% efficiency increase within pricing and payments compared to the existing manual process Legal advice on over 1bn worth of contracts including LINAACS, Design 4 Life, Health Education, Stoma Care and Clinical Waste Rebates and recoveries of nearly 4m and savings of over 9m in withdrawn commercial legal claims in the past year. Goal 4 - We will ensure business continuity as we further develop new and transferred service areas Successful transfer of the Surgical Medical Testing Laboratory Improved patient care through the enhancement and expansion of EMRTS logistical support on an all-wales basis Successful roll out of TRAC with no detrimental impact or loss of service Integration of Primary Care Services transport within NWSSP whilst maintaining HCS service Improved PADR compliance (consistently above 70%) despite the implementation of the pay progression policy IT issues leading to some delay in implementing Cleric system for HCS Systems supplier delay in releasing ESR enhanced functionality Recruitment and retention of some staff within our professional services due to market influences. 18

19 Performance Goal 5 - We will help NHS Wales to achieve clinical improvement and service change through lessons learnt, spreading good practice and innovation underpinned by clinical evidence and business intelligence Improved patient safety through good risk management and sharing of lessons learnt through the WRP and improved procurement processes Continued focus by our Audit and Assurance services on sharing lessons learnt and good practice across organisations Delivered training for Independent Members on governance and risk matters Introduced a Revised School Vaccination Support Programme, releasing Nurse/Clinician Time (Cardiff & Vale UHB) Delay in appointment to finalise Welsh Risk Pool management structure. Goal 6 - We will add value and use our skills and expertise to help NHS Wales tackle key issues such as agency costs and rising clinical negligence claims Continued project management support to the Temporary Nurse Staffing Capacity Steering Group and the underpinning workstreams Took the lead in developing clerical bank portability so the lessons could be learned for nursing staff Doubled the number of nurses returning to practice over the past 3 years 9m in respect of agency nursing fees due to contract legal advice Worked with the Wales Deanery to develop proposals for medical postgraduate training the first time this has been achieved for over 10 years Offered a straightforward route to legal services as and when needed Shared learnt lessons from Welsh Risk Pool audits Pace of initial recommendations from the All-Wales Medical Device and Consumables Strategy Group. 19

20 Performance Goal 7 - We will help NHS Wales to deliver key strategic objectives, including prudent healthcare and primary care agenda, and the Healthcare Professional Education Investment Review Unlocked capacity of GP Practice Managers by managing all employment processes Established a single point of contact that current and future primary care medical staffing can utilise for training and employment opportunities Introduced a One Wales Primary Care Rebate Scheme to include a new IT platform 11 LIFT placement opportunities, including 4 employability programmes Developed new resources HCSW career Framework Removal of variation and waste through deployment of ESR and interfacing technologies Welsh Universities successfully filled 98.4% of all its commissioned places Offer a high quality employment experience for GP trainees Privatisation of NHS England Primary Care Services, and the impact of this on NHAIS system replacement. Goal 8 - We will continue to improve communication, partnerships and engagement with service users and stakeholders to ensure we address their priorities and needs Chair and Director met all NHS bodies Boards during year Regular meetings with health bodies Executive Teams Attendance at some, but not all, All-Wales peer group meetings Regular feedback obtained through service questionnaires and telephone interviews Improved ratings for Wales Quality Centre and Customer Service Excellence reviews. 20

21 Performance Goal 9 - We will develop partnerships and provide services with other public sector organisations to provide mutual benefit Development of the Store and Scan on Demand service within Primary Care Services, reducing pressures on GP Practices estates Enhanced the e-learning solution to enable accessibility to over 300 courses for NHS Wales and the wider public sector, including Local Authorities and Welsh Government Work in partnership with Universities to ensure that Wales maintains a low attrition rate and ensure 80% of graduates work in NHS Wales Substantially increased advertising vacancies for the Primary Care sector Provide Internal Audit to a Housing Association. 21

22 Performance High Level Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) High Level KPIs 2016/17 Target Actual Financial and Workforce Indicators Financial Position actual Break even 11k surplus out-turn Capital financial position Within CRL Achieved Planned Distribution of savings 0.75m 2m + 1.2m brokerage Professional Influence Savings 50m 130m Staff Sickness (Cumulative) 3.3% 3.43% PADR Compliance >85% 77.51% Statutory and Mandatory Training >85% 93.07% Procurement Services Procurement savings 20m 37.2m All Wales PSPP 95% 94.47% Employment Services Payroll accuracy rate 99% 99.78% Recruitment activities undertaken within HBs/Trusts Time to Approve Vacancies 10 days 11.1 days Time to Shortlist by Managers 3 Days 7.2 days Time to notify Recruitment of 2 Days 5 days Interview Outcome Recruitment activities undertaken by NWSSP team Time to Place Adverts 2 days 1.7 days Time to Send Applications to Manager Time to send Conditional Offer Letter 2 days 1.1 days 5 days 3.1 days Primary Care Services Payments made accurately and to timescale Prescription - keying accuracy rates 100% 100% 99% 99.46% 22

23 Performance High Level KPIs 2016/17 Target Actual Internal Audit Audits reported as a % of planned audits Report turnaround - Health Board and Trust management response to Draft Report Report turnaround - draft response to final reporting 95% 78% 80% 65% 80% 96% Legal & Risk Services Timeliness of advice acknowledgement - within 24 hours Timeliness of advice response within 3 days or agreed timescale Welsh Risk Pool Acknowledgement of receipt of claim Valid claims received within deadline processed in time for next WRP committee Workforce, Education and Development Services % of Contracts Agreed in principle Contract, Performance and Operational meetings booked and undertaken on a timely basis 90% 100% 90% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 95% 100% 23

24 Performance Finances This year, we once again exceeded on our financial targets. We achieved a small surplus of 11k for the 2016/17 financial year, after making our increased distribution of 2 million to NHS Wales and providing 1.2 million to the All Wales Brokerage fund. The distribution of savings are detailed below. Welsh Goverment PHW WAST Velindre Total Savings 2,000,000 Powys HD CT C&V BCU ABMU Aneurin Bevan NWSSP Professional Influence Benefits Direct savings are only part of the picture, and the main financial benefits to be gained are through high quality professional influence and advice to NHS Wales. These benefits relate to savings and cost avoidance within the health organisations. Detail for Health Boards and Trusts is reported in the individual performance reports issued to health organisations quarterly. The indicative financial benefits across NHS Wales for last year are summarised below. financial benefits across NHS Wales ( m) YTD Benefit Total Legal & Risk Services Procurement Services Specialist Estates Services This highlights the considerable levels of professional influence benefits being generated for NHS Wales and in particular the significant levels of cost avoidance for NHS Wales arising from the work undertaken by the legal services team in relation to clinical negligence claims. 24

25 Our People Our People The Workforce and Organisational Development plan sets out the key priorities to support the delivery of the service development strategy outlined in this plan. The improvements made to date have been achieved through the support, hard work, dedication, commitment and skill of our workforce. Our staff will continue to play a fundamental role in ensuring that this plan, the service commitments and developments are successfully delivered. Organisational Change Ongoing organisational change has been a reality for NWSSP since its inception. Restructuring of services and organisational structures is an ongoing requirement as services continue to develop and grow. In addition, further relocations of staff will also be a reality for the foreseeable future. This will include the transfer of 129 staff from central Swansea to Matrix House (outer Swansea). Service improvement team roles have now been established in all transactional areas, and the benefit and expansion of these roles and other complementary roles, for example project management, will continue to be explored and implemented. Alignment of future staff levels/skill to service plans continue to be reviewed and adjusted to reflect the changes in service models and the requirements of individual services plans. 25

26 Our People Engaging with Staff NWSSP had one of the highest response rates to the 2016 NHS Wales Staff Survey (57%). This showed that, as a relatively new organisation, we continue to make positive progress. This is especially pleasing given the amount of change that NWSSP staff have been through over the last two years. The results for NWSSP show that 91% of all questions reported positive improvement between the 2013 and 2016 surveys. In addition, NWSSP survey results were more positive than the rest of Wales in 70% of areas. Our results demonstrate many positive improvements when compared to the previous survey in These include: All scores about line managers and senior managers have improved since 2013 and all but one are above the overall NHS Wales score 84% of staff say that their line manager treats them with respect 80% of staff have also stated that they had a performance appraisal/review in the last 12 months, up from 55% in % of staff say that they know who the senior managers are in their organisation; most of the scores on staff s attitude to change in their organisation have also improved since 2013 with 73% of staff saying they support the need for change Scores on learning and development have improved and there have been some interesting changes in provision, with 86% of staff now saying that they took part in e-learning/ online training in the last 12 months, which is up from 68% in

27 Our People One of the main target areas will be improvement of the Engagement Index Score. Whilst this shows an improvement since the 2013 survey, the overall score lies just below the average for NHS Wales. A critical focus for the next period will be the development and delivery of an organisational level action plan to address the feedback, which will be supported by the individual service action plans as required. The engagement index scores for NWSSP have improved since 2013 in all three themes making up the score. These themes include questions on whether staff would recommend the organisation as a place to work and whether staff feel proud to tell people they work for the organisation. NWSSP s engagement scores are above the overall NHS Wales score in one theme Ability to contribute towards improvements at work and the same as the overall NHS Wales score in one theme Staff advocacy and recommendation. The senior management team and trade union representatives from the Local Partnership Form received detailed feedback on the results. The full results report has been shared with staff, and individual functions will explore their own results further to identify priority areas for improvement. Local workshops will also be held. The GP Registrar team have also been working in partnership with the Wales Deanery to ascertain how the current GP trainees view the single lead employer service. A questionnaire was produced in partnership and shared with all GP trainees. The results have produced positive results, and an article has been published in a recent Wales Deanery newsletter. Staff Well-being Last winter NWSSP offered a flu fighter s vaccination programme at our regional centres, which resulted in a 75% take up. The Health and Wellbeing Group continues to be a priority for NWSSP. NWSSP continues to work in partnership with Healthshield, a not for profit health cash plan provider who offers access to a range of well-being benefits. 27

28 Our People Values Our Values Invasion group have mapped across the values of Prudent Healthcare. To embed our values further in every Learning and Development training programme, we challenge NWSSP staff on our values with Values Shield. This is now embedded and used on all our training programmes, asking staff to show us how they live our Values. Recruitment and Retention Recruitment and retention continues to be one of the most significant areas of challenge to NWSSP. It is recognised that the constraints of Agenda for Change pay has a detrimental impact on both recruitment and retention in a number of the professional and technical services. This is significant in Procurement Services, Specialist Estates Services and Audit and Assurance Services, where remuneration levels in the private sector and other parts of the public sector are generally higher and the local labour market is very competitive. A further review of the opportunities to improve recruitment and retention in these services is critical to ensure that a lack of a skilled and adequate workforce does not have a detrimental impact on service delivery and development. A blended portfolio of recruitment initiatives will continue to be deployed, to include: Extension of inhouse A&C bank to include supply chain, drivers and professional staff Social sourcing initiatives Internal apprentice models The initiatives of Values Based Recruitment Graduate placements, interns and graduate opportunities 28

29 Our People To mitigate the impact of recruitment and retention challenges, robust internal staff development and succession planning arrangements are being put in place to help grow our own workforce and equip our staff for future roles and opportunities. One key example of this is the investment in an internal Chartered Institute of Procurement (CIPS) programme, which is supporting 25 junior procurement staff to attain the relevant professional qualification. One of the main target areas will be improvement of the Engagement Index Score. Whilst this shows an improvement since the 2013 survey, the overall score lies just below the average score for NHS Wales. A critical focus for the next period will be the development and delivery of an organisational level action plan to address the feedback, which will be supported by the individual service action plans as required. Workforce Performance Positive improvement continues to be achieved across a range of core workforce performance indicators. Sickness Absence Significant focus has been given to driving down levels of sickness absence, with a challenging organisational target of 3.3%, and there has been a reduction in overall absence of 0.20% in (3.43%) when compared to (3.63%). Significant work has been undertaken to ensure the appropriate implementation of the NHS Wales Sickness Absence Policy, through local intervention, sickness absence training packages and monitoring through the NWSSP Core Organisational Objectives as part of the NHS Wales Pay Progression Policy. From April 2016 March 2017, 45 managers have attended 5 sickness absence training sessions. In total, since the introduction of the revised All Wales policy, 212 managers have attended training, which equates to 57.45% of managers. A comprehensive series of new targets for individual services areas was agreed by the SMT in June These new targets were based on the levels of absence within each directorate and the reduction required in each, to enable the organisation to achieve/ remain within the overall target of 3.30%. The targets were standardised so that all transactional and professional services have the same target, 4.15% and 2.00% respectively, to allow a fairer and more consistent approach to benchmarking. Non-clinical support workers have been allocated a higher target of 5.55%, which reflects the manual work aspect of the occupational roles within these areas and the fact that these services could reasonably be expected to have a higher level of sickness absence as a result. GP trainees, a professional service, have been given a lower target of 1.60%, which reflects the fact that sickness within this service has previously been very low and consistently below the 2.00% professional target. These targets will be monitored throughout Managers use of ESR in the management and monitoring of sickness absence continues to improve, as ESR continues to be embedded within services and practice. The below figure shows the significant improvement in managers recording sickness absence using ESR self service within 7 calendar days of the first day of sickness absence. 29

30 Our People Performance and Development Review (PADR) and Pay Progression Further work is required to fully embed PADR and pay progression within NWSSP. Compliance at 31 March 2017 was 77.48%, slightly under the Welsh Government target of 85% This remains a key focus for the Senior Management Team in order to achieve and maintain this target. Work is ongoing to integrate the NWSSP core organisation objectives into the PADR process, in accordance with the NHS Wales Pay Progression Policy. The development of an e-padr form has streamlined the process for managers and ensured that the NWSSP core organisation objectives are an integral part of the PADR discussion. This form also ensures that Workforce and Organisational Development are alerted should a member of staff s performance not be deemed as satisfactory, and also informs Learning and Development of any learning and development requirements in the upcoming year in order to influence their work programme. During 2016/17, NWSSP has offered 29 PADR training sessions for managers to support them in this requirement. 205 managers have attended, equating to 55.55%. The staff survey results indicate that the PADR process has a significant positive impact, with 80% of staff stating that they had clear work objectives. 30

31 Our People Statutory and Mandatory Training significant effort has been put into ensuring that all staff are fully compliant with these training needs. Compliance is currently in excess of 90%, and further training analysis will be undertaken to identify staff requiring a higher level of skill in the workplace consistent with their job role. The e-zones within stores areas continues to have a positive impact on their CSTF compliance, with the overall compliance figure for Supply Chain being 96.46% as at 31 March 2017 compared to 86.15% at 31 March 2016, an increase of 10.31%. Developing Our Staff The development of staff remains a key priority for NWSSP. Significant progress has already been made, and the staff survey results show a significant improvement between 2013 and 2016 in all 25 training and development measures. However, for 57% of all training and development measures the NWSSP results show a less positive position than the All Wales average. Improving the people management skills of all managers and supervisors has been a key strategic priority. The staff survey results confirm that positive progress has been made, with the results demonstrating an improvement in every area since the 2013 survey. A skills passport will be developed and implemented across all parts of NWSSP. These results reinforce the continued focus and investment that NWSSP must continue to make, ensuring appropriate development opportunities for staff. We will continue to develop and offer a comprehensive range of in-house programmes that support the professional and personal development of our staff. Our portfolio of programmes includes: New for 2017 and the future will be IQT Silver Qualification. In November 2016, in partnership with Public Health Wales, we launched a series of IQT Silver workshops across all Shared Services sites. IQT Silver explores the model for improvement in detail, looking at how you can apply these to improvement projects in the workplace. An initial series of 4 IQT Silver Cohorts will take place in Cardiff and in North Wales in early Innovation People Management Coaching ESR CORE SKILLS PADR ILM Healthcare Leadership Model Our leadership development programmes will be supplemented by a short behavioural-based leadership development intervention, commissioned from and delivered in partnership with a local university. We have developed a cultural change programme in partnership with Unison, which will implement a programme of transformation and modernisation for staff working in Accounts Payable. Service Improvement Cultural Change Compliance & Monitoring Customer Service Team Working Professional Development We continue to support service areas with their professional development and in 2017 we shall be working in partnership with Employment services and Specialist Estates to implement apprenticeship schemes. 31

32 Our People Core Skills Training Modules- Statutory and Mandatory Training Significant efforts have been made to improve NWSSP s compliance with the Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF), including the introduction of e-zones at Supply Chain sites across NHS Wales including Bridgend, Denbigh and Llandough. In addition to this, the e-learning modules that comprise the CSTF are now directly embedded within the new ESR portal launched across NWSSP in February 2017, and this has further improved accessibility for all staff groups across NWSSP. These developments and enhancements have led to an overall compliance rate of 93.31% for the organisation as at 31 March Learning and Development information for workshops took place involving 112 managers with our PADR programme which is aligned to the Pay Progression Policy 16 NWSSP staff attended an 8 week Mindfulness Programme at St Asaph & Swansea Corporate Induction In partnership with colleagues across NWSSP, with 11 workshops taking place across Wales with 140 NWSSP staff attending 5 People Management Skills Programmes delivered to 35 staff NWSSP are hosting the first CIPD Apprenticeship for NHS Wales. We have 15 learners from across 5 Health Boards A series of learning surgeries held in partnership with our union learning representatives across all NWSSP 13 Managing Telephone Conflict Programmes took place with 112 staff In partnership with the Training Foundation, 16 Managers have successfully completed the NextGen Programme Working in partnership with Procurement Services, we are developing a Training Passport 2016 saw the launch of the L&D Intranet page & ActionPoint pages. The Intranet pages have had hits in the period Applied Positive Psychology delivered to 23 Staff 47 NWSSP staff undertaking ILM 3/4/5, 7 staff NVQ s & 2 Warehousing NVQ s Healthcare Leadership Model pilot was successfully completed and delivered in partnership with Primary Care Services 32

33 Our People Learning and Development information for (continued) 10 managers from North Wales undertook the Business Improvement Technique Programme and 8 managers graduated from the ILM 5 Programme More than 60 staff attended Team Based working in 2016 Learning and Development Team have used Twitter to successfully advertise programmes and events in 2016 First Staff Recognition awards took place in June 2016 E-Zone launched in Cwmbran Stores and we continue to drive up compliance for CSTF New ESR Learning Management System (LMS) launched, improving employees access to CSTF e-learning courses NWSSP continues to support the Lift programme and creates opportunities for placements as well as delivering training on their employability programme and the CSTF Personal Improvement Programme (PIP) Second PIP programme launched in North Wales in November 2016 and is being delivered in partnership with Unison with 10 NWSSP staff Comprehensive list of NWSSP programmes are now available on OLM Electronic Staff Record NWSSP are a Beta site for Electronic Staff Record (ESR) developments 24 NWSSP staff undertook a Level 3 Award in Education and Training (EAT) Network75 is a combined work and study route to a degree. NWSSP currently have 5 Network75 students 33

34 Our People Learning and Development information for On 1 March 2017, the PADR e-form was made mandatory for all reviewing managers to complete following PADR discussions Due to an increase in demand, an additional 7 Corporate Induction dates were released to be held in Mamhilad, Pontypool. This gave us an additional 140 spaces. All NWSSP New Starters, at the applicant stage, are ed through to the Learning and Development team from the NWSSP Recruitment teams. Staff are then enrolled onto the next available Corporate Induction programme which is closest to new starter s base. The individual s line manger is then ed to inform them and explain how to change the booking if they wish The second Personal Improvement Programme (PIP) was launched in North Wales, in partnership with Unison, in November A total of 10 staff are participating in the programme. The programme includes Positive Psychology, Effective Communication, Mindfulness, An introduction to Emotional Intelligence, How to influence others, Coping with Change, Leadership, Time Management, Making the most of your PADR and ESR, and understanding Financial Flow The new ESR Learning Management System (LMS) was launched in August 2016 for all NWSSP staff and is in the final stages of roll out across Wales. Previously, staff accessed e-learning via learning@ nhswales. This has now changed to a new integrated e-learning platform within the ESR. User guides are available via the Learning and Development staff intranet pages The first cohort of the CIPD Higher Apprenticeship Framework was launched in 2016 in partnership with Llandrillo College, North Wales, and is available to all Health Board staff across Wales. 15 delegates from Hywel Dda, ABMU, Aneurin Bevan University Health Boards and NWSSP are now 9 months into the programme Learning and Development launched an Action Point address, which is now live and is our key point of contact for all Learning and Development questions and queries In total, over 100 staff have attended Managing Telephone conflict workshops across NWSSP In every Learning and Development training programme, we challenge NWSSP staff on our values with our Values Shield. This is now embedded and used on all our training programmes. Staff are tasked with reflecting on how our Values are embedded into their world We are working to strengthen our Prudent healthcare discussions with NWSSP staff through all our training programmes and interactions We are working with a number of services across NWSSP to develop a range of Apprenticeship Schemes NWSSP continues to support the LIFT programme, and Learning and Development have been instrumental in developing and delivering the Employability Programme for LIFT placements across Wales as well as ensuring any NHS placements are completing the CSTF. Learning Surgery The surgery gives staff the opportunity to drop in and discuss their specific needs and get some on-site coaching for ESR, OLM, PADR s. Staff are able to discuss accredited programmes and what professional development opportunities they can access within NWSSP. 34

35 Our People 35

36 Quality Improving Quality Many of our divisions, as part of their journey to world class, have increased the quality of their provision of service through the use of automation. For example, Primary Care Services have enabled this across the organisation through their scanning services, thereby removing the requirement for staff to input information. Additionally, Digital Workforce Solutions have a fundamental role in facilitating an increase in quality in workforce data, through supporting the use of the full capabilities of ESR and technology-enabled learning. The Once for Wales approach is a quality measure, reducing inappropriate variation and ensuring consistency of application in processes. Meeting and Exceeding Performance Standards Supporting progress towards the achievement of excellence is the commitment to continuous development, through the adoption of a number of best practice quality models, awards and standards. These provide quality assurance as well as sustained short-term and long-term improvement. NWSSP, working with Directors of Finance and Workforce and Organisational Development through the delivering excellence programme, is striving to improve performance and incorporate good practice amongst Health Boards and Trusts. Key performance indicators will be further refined following the output from the Hire to Retire and purchase to pay national and local workstreams. Individual action plans for the delivering excellence programme are created to resolve any ongoing issues, with clear timescales and responsibilities in terms of ownership of actions. 36

37 Quality Quality Performance Indicators Improvement priorities are identified against our key strategic objectives and underpinned by Oracle Framework for assessment of world class services. Key performance indicators have been identified for each service. A number of these relate specifically to quality and service improvement. The continued development of the balanced scorecard and associated performance reporting during will seek to consolidate and develop work in this area. Quarterly performance reports, which incorporate detailed key performance information, are prepared for each Health Board and Trust. These reports form the basis for discussions with executive officers during regular meetings throughout the year. In addition, individual services produce more detailed key performance indicators, which are discussed with Health Board and Trust managers during the course of the year. The information provided to each Health body contains key performance indicators for all health bodies, and areas of good practice and strong performance are highlighted. Improving Quality Together Quality services can only be provided if the driving forces, the staff, are appropriately skilled and empowered to deliver excellence. Our organisational values are intrinsic to supporting our staff to listen, learn, take responsibility, innovate and work together to achieve quality. Coupled with this, our staff development programme has a strong focus on quality. All staff are required to undertake the Bronze Improving Quality Together (IQT) training, and encouraged to do the Silver and Gold IQT. Innovation is a Core Value of NWSSP and an essential element of IQT Silver. There are five cohorts of 15 places for IQT Silver planned across NWSSP next year, and further cohort dates to be released. This investment in quality through staff can also be seen by the appointment of a new compliance manager, who will act as the central management point for quality standards NWSSP-wide. Quality Standards As an organisation, we are accredited with the ISO environmental management quality standard, with the exception of our new services. It was agreed by the SMT that we will ensure that we have the ISO27001 Information Security Management Standard (ISMS). The standard aims to improve resilience and responsiveness to threats to information, preserving confidentiality, integrity and availability of information (CIA) by applying a risk management process. It deals with the need for prevention and all aspects of protocol including technical, physical and legal control. An independent gap analysis is planned in approximately 12 months time, which will allow sufficient time for tangible measures to be put in place to meet cyber security and business continuity requirements. Each of our divisions is undertaking quality initiatives, and gaining recognised quality accreditation and awards that are appropriate to the services provided. Some examples include: Legal and Risk Services Specialist Estates Services Procurement Services OHSAS Occupational Health & Safety Management Requirements ISO Information Security Management Requirements Lexcel - Legal Practice Management Standard IS Quality Management Standard IS Quality Management Standard STS - Food Safety & Health Accreditation for stores facilities located in Denbigh, Bridgend and Cwmbran ISO Environmental Management System Certificate Standards 37

38 Quality Service Level Agreements (SLAs) A key element of effective service provision is understanding the respective roles of NWSSP and the requirements of NHS Wales. The SLAs ensures: That each party to the agreement understands their role and responsibilities. This is done through clear definition of duties, with quarterly review meetings to monitor progress That risk is shared equally between all organisations That appropriate performance measures are in place to measure both qualitative and quantitative information. As well as providing performance reports to offer quality assurance, SLAs define the service and quality that service users can expect. These are monitored in liaison with our key customers. Customer Service Excellence Standard Supporting our corporate objectives that focus on customer experience, a number of our divisions, including Procurement, Primary Care Services, Specialist Estates Services and Legal and Risk, have all achieved and maintain the Cabinet Office s Customer Service Excellence Standard. Other NWSSP services are working towards this as part of their service development, as we strive to provide services with increased efficiency and quality. Wales Quality Awards Our commitment to customer service has been recognised, with a number of our services gaining both the Wales Quality Centre Business Excellence Award and the Customer Service Excellence Award, both of which are national awards for good practice. To achieve the WQA awards, the services undertake a robust assessment across a range of criteria. These assessments are undertaken through a document review and site visits by independent assessors, and are a valuable part of our quality improvement process. Every year we work hard within our divisions to attain accreditation from the Wales Quality Centre, who undertake an in-depth assessment over several criteria. Each year our services continue to improve the scores received by the Wales Quality Centre. This year, two divisions won overall awards: partnerships and resources prize, won by Procurement Services, and the most improved organisation prize, won by Primary Care Services. We commit to improve the results of the Wales Quality Centre audit of services over the next three years so that we can continue to work in partnership with a customer focus. 38

39 Equality & Diversity NWSSP is committed to eliminating discrimination, valuing diversity, and promoting equality of opportunity in everything we do. NWSSP adheres to the Velindre NHS Trust Strategic Equality Plan and the associated equality objectives. We have worked with the NHS Wales Centre for Equality & Human Rights (CEHR) to introduce our own process for undertaking Equality Impact Assessments, which considers the needs of the protected characteristics identified under the Equality Act 2010 Race (including ethnic or national origin, colour or nationality), Disability, Gender, Age, Gender Reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Religion or belief and Sexual orientation, and the Welsh specific duties to: Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 Advance equality of opportunity between those people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. In 2016, we provided key managers with training on the Equality Impact Assessment (EQUIA) process and introduced an Equality Impact Assessment Panel to review completed assessments, to ensure that our policies, projects and events do not discriminate against any disadvantaged or vulnerable people. Following feedback from the panel, the assessment was extended to include broader assurance issues including information governance, Well-being of Future Generations Act, sustainability and environment and health and safety, and it has now evolved into an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) process. We also ensure compliance with the engagement provisions of the Gunning Principles, and the duty to have due regard as laid out in the Brown Principles, when reviewing existing policies or assessing new policies for impact on protected characteristics. Our Assistant Director of Workforce and Organisational Development is also a member of the Equality Group within Velindre NHS Trust, and any NWSSP specific issues are integrated into this process. Our Head of Corporate Services is a member of the CEHR Business Planning Group. 39

40 Welsh Language Welsh Language NWSSP is committed to ensuring that the Welsh Language is treated on the basis of equality in the services we provide to the public in Wales. This is in accordance with the Velindre NHS Trust Welsh Language Scheme, Welsh Language Act 1993, Welsh Language Measure (Wales) 2011 and Welsh Language Standards (No1) Regulations During the following activities were undertaken to develop and strengthen NWSSP s ethos and compliance with our current Welsh Language Scheme under the Welsh Language Measure Appointment of a Welsh Language Officer GIG NHS GIG NHS Development of a Welsh Language Translation Guide & Booking System Welsh Language Officer (WLO) appointed and commenced in the role in August 2016 A.N Other Significant increase in the Demand for Welsh Language translation across all business areas at NWSSP 75% of WLO time spent on leading, co-ordinating and providing Welsh Language translations from August 2016 to March 2017 Review of current Welsh Language platform on NHS Jobs Improvements of Welsh Language provision and translation of content NHSJobs Review of the TRAC recruitment tool Update, translate and edit the candidate platform User testing with representatives from other NHS organisations in Wales Presentation on the Welsh Language for Recruitment Managers across all Health Boards and Trusts through the Recruitment network Welsh Language Standards Consultation Responded to the consultation on the proposed Welsh Language Standards (Health Sector) Regulations 2016 Responded to the consultation on the proposed Strategy for a Million Welsh Speakers by 2050 Responded to the consultation on the Future Generations & Well-being Act Presentations have been given to service delivery teams about Welsh Language Awareness, our ethos as an organisation and our obligations as a public sector service provider in Wales 40

41 Welsh Language Welsh Language (continued) Welsh Language Awareness slot now available as part of NWSSP Corporate Induction 10 Welsh Language Awareness sessions delivered at Corporate Induction days A celebration of the Welsh Language, history and culture was held on St David s Day at NWSSP headquarters in Nantgarw, Cardiff and Cwmbran House Offices in Pontypool, South Wales NWSSP Representation on the Group reporting on Welsh Language development, innovation, informing national policy on Welsh Language Courses at Work at Entry and Foundation levels located across 3 NWSSP sites 50 members of staff attending 88% retention rate for 2016/17 Welsh Language attended seminars in Officer on Recruitment & Workforce Planning, Procurement and The Welsh Language and Compliance Welsh Language Skills Strategy and Welsh Language Training Protocol Drafted Welsh Language with Welsh Government 41

42 Good Practice & Recognition The following chapter provides a summary of the good practice and recognition within our diverse services during 2016/2017. NWSSP Supports the Development of a Medical Strategy for NHS Wales In order to develop a sustainable medical workforce that meets the health needs of patients in Wales, an All Wales Strategic Medical Workforce Group (ASMWG) was established in 2016, that provided advice and recommendations to Chief Executives and Welsh Government. This group helped to develop a Medical Workforce Strategy for NHS Wales, where three engagement sessions were undertaken across Wales to support this. The first session took place on 26 April 2016 at Cardiff City Stadium, with attendees from across the health community including Primary Care, Nursing, Associate Healthcare Practitioners, Pharmacy, General Management, Workforce & Organisational Development and Planning and Finance. NHS Wales colleagues attend the NWSSP led event in Cardiff From Hire to Retire: Employment Services Teams Leading from the Front National Payroll Week presented Employment Services with an opportunity to openly thank colleagues who, week after week, month after month, relentlessly deal with our queries and personal changes and ensure that our pay is correct and on time. The dedicated teams across NHS Wales produce over 1.3 million payslips a year, are responsible for implementing thousands of transactional changes for 84,000 staff, and are proud to provide NHS Wales with a 99.6% accuracy processing rate. Director of Employment Services, Paul Thomas said: I admire our team s passion and commitment - our journey of change since coming together as NHS Wales Shared Services has been challenging and enlightening, with no shortage of improvement ideas from the teams. Still, meeting the expectations of 84,000 staff across NHS Wales can at times be difficult but the team never lose sight of the individual staff member they are trying to help. NHS Wales s employees rarely see the commitment and determination that the Payroll teams undertake to ensure timely and accurate payments, very often working long and additional hours. Shared Services Partnership Annual Review 42

43 Good Practice & Recognition NWSSP Teams Honoured for Procurement Excellence at Government Awards A number of NWSSP Procurement Services teams were successful at the inaugural Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards Wales 2016/17, which were held in Cardiff on 6 October Procurement Services won awards in a number of categories, including the Best Service Award (in collaboration with NHS Wales Informatics Service -NWIS), and Leadership of the Year Award for the Pharmacy team. In recognition of the successful multidisciplinary team-working of caterers, procurement officers and dieticians, Procurement also received Highly Commended status for collaboration across food procurement. The Procurement Commissioning team were also Highly Commended for Team of the Year. Procurement Pharmacy Team, from left: Mark Francis, Tracey Prothero, Bethan Jenkins and Keir Warner (far right) Legal and Risk Services Colleague Receives Law Society Excellence Nomination Solicitor Mark Harris was shortlisted by the Law Society Excellence Awards for Solicitor of the Year In-House during The Legal and Risk team were very proud, as there was a record number of applications for the awards during the year. Mark said: Thank you to all of my amazing, clever and hard-working colleagues at Legal and Risk for persuading the Law Society to put me onto their shortlist. More than anything, I hope that this will be an opportunity to raise our profile and to put a positive spotlight on the excellent work that we do day in and day out at Legal and Risk. Mark heads Legal and Risk s Commercial team, which provides a full range of legal services to the NHS in Wales, including commercial/procurement and employment law, property law, mental health/capacity law and Data Protection/FOI issues. Solicitor Mark Harris, shortlisted for the prestigious award 43

44 Good Practice & Recognition Legal and Risk Services Colleague Becomes Welsh Representative for Employment Lawyers Association In 2016, Daniela Mahapatra, a Solicitor within Legal and Risk Services division, became the Employment Lawyers Association Representative (solicitors and barristers) for Wales. Upon her election, Daniela stated that she hoped to provide more support for newly qualified lawyers in Wales, with tailored training lessons including skills-based training. Daniela said: I am delighted to take up the post of Wales Representative and feel privileged to have the opportunity to support employment lawyers in Wales. Solicitor Daniela Mahapatra of Legal and Risk Services Customer Service Excellence Standard Retained by Primary Care Services Director of Primary Care Services, Dave Hopkins (centre) with PCS staff and the framed CSE Award Primary Care Services (PCS) successfully completed their two day annual assessment with regards to the government s Customer Service Excellence Standard (CSE). PCS were awarded Compliance Plus in 3 assessment categories, demonstrating that their behaviours and practices exceed the requirements of the standard and are viewed as exceptional for other either within the organisation or in the wider public arena. Director of Primary Care Services, Dave Hopkins, said: I would like to pass on my thanks and that of my management team, and the assessor, to all PCS staff for their continued support and enthusiasm, which has acted as an enabler in allowing PCS to achieve compliance plus recognition. Special thanks to the members of staff who travelled to Pontypool to represent the North Wales and Swansea teams. The assessor was very impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of all staff, but special recognition must be given to our North Wales representatives who reinforced our commitment to providing National services whilst encouraging and nurturing an open and transparent culture where team work and collaboration is key. Finally I would like to thank the Engagement and Development team for their continuous work which has enabled PCS to make the assessment such a success. 44

45 Good Practice & Recognition Success for NWSSP Digital Workforce Solutions Team at Prestigious HPMA Awards Ceremony In June 2016, the NWSSP Digital Workforce Solutions Team were recognised for their outstanding achievement in delivering a Once for Wales learning solution, at the Healthcare People Management Association (HPMA) annual awards event. The team s innovative solution won not just the Chamberlain Dunn Learning award for excellence in organisational development, but it was also nominated Overall Winner. The project has delivered a one Wales national e-learning platform, with materials available 24/7 to NHS Wales employees and the wider public sector including local government, primary care and universities. The successful Digital Workforce Team at the HPMA Awards ISO9001 and OHSAS18001 Audit Success for Procurement Services The ISO 9001(Quality Management Systems) and OHSAS (Health & Safety) External Assessment Audit by SGS was completed for NWSSP Procurement Services in 2016, following an extensive 7 day audit across the whole of the division. The successful audit means that Procurement retained their certification for another year, with the auditor impressed with the improvements at Bridgend Stores and St Athan premises. Graham Davies, Head of Supply Chain at Bridgend Stores, expressed his thanks to the team for their excellent hard work and in making significant changes at Bridgend Stores. Procurement Services Director Mark Roscrow also praised staff and noted the excellent turn-around and hard work. 45

46 Good Practice & Recognition Appliances and Dressings Sourcing Teams Winners at National Patient Safety Awards On 5 July 2016, the work of the Lymphoedema Network Wales, in conjunction with NWSSP Procurement Services and the Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory (SMTL), was formally recognised as part of the Patient Safety Awards The teams won in the Procurement Patient Safety category. These coveted awards seek to recognise truly outstanding achievements within NHS and Independent Healthcare organisations, and numerous worthy initiatives are reviewed by the judges every year. Picture includes: Thomas Dumbleton (Procurement Services), Caity Thomas (Lymphoedema Network Wales), Gavin Hughes (SMTL), Louise Barry (SMTL), Melanie Thomas (Lymphoedema Network Wales), Karen Morgan (Lymphoedema Network Wales NWSSP Colleagues Honoured as part of First Unison Health Awards UNISON Cymru/Wales held its first NHS Awards on 6 July 2016 in Cardiff. The union celebrated the individual contributions of healthcare workers at a gala dinner, in the company of Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething AM, Dawn Bowden AM and senior UK officials from the million-strong public services union. UNISON s prestigious Health Awards are presented to Welsh NHS members in recognition of the valuable contribution they make in their workplace. Candidates have been nominated by healthcare peers for going the extra mile in patients care, being a positive role model for colleagues and helping to make the NHS a national treasure. Awards for contributions at Branch level were also presented to a number of NWSSP staff including Mary Hopkin - I.T Services, Alwyn Hockin- Procurement Services and Phil Byfield - Business Support. Phil Byfield said: I am delighted to have been recognised by my peers for some of the union-based work I have co-ordinated over the past few years. This really is an honour and I am pleased to be part of Unison going forward. Back row: Mary Hopkins, Alwyn Hockin (both NWSSP), Claire Lam - (Welsh Blood Service Steward) Andrew Fletcher - (NWIS Steward) Bottom row: Margaret Thomas - (Velindre NHS Trust), Amanda Osborne- (NWSSP) Rachel Price- (Regional Organiser), Wendy Dearing - (NWIS) 46

47 Good Practice & Recognition Ground-breaking New e-learning Platform for NHS Wales led by Digital Workforce Solutions Team NWSSP became the first organisation in NHS Wales to migrate to the ESR e-learning platform. This was a major achievement, as ESR e-learning was previously not available to Wales, so NWSSP had an important role in achieving proof of concept for this national solution. Previously, all NHS Wales staff accessed e-learning via learning@nhswales. Following the migration, learning@nhswales was rebranded to Learning@ Wales and remains available to other services users outside NHS Wales. ISO14001 External Audit: Successful Outcome for NWSSP NWSSP underwent its annual external audit of the ISO14001 accreditation in August The following sites were included in the scope of the audit: Companies House, Cardiff Denbigh Stores Alder House, St Asaph. Paula Jones, NWSSP Health, Safety and Risk Manager said: I am pleased that NWSSP passed the audit with no nonconformities identified and that only a few general observations and opportunities for improvement were noted which will be worked through during the coming year. The objectives of the audit were to determine the conformity of the management system, or parts of it, with audit criteria and its ability to ensure applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements are met: Effectiveness to ensure the client can reasonably expect to achieve specified objectives To identify areas for potential improvement. The audit team conducted a process-based audit focusing on significant aspects/risks/objectives. 47

48 Good Practice & Recognition Digital Workforce Team Shortlisted for Prestigious Health Service Journal Awards NWSSP Digital Workforce Solutions Workforce Information Systems team was shortlisted in both the Using technology to improve efficiency and Improving outcomes through learning and development categories at the 2016 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards. The team was recognised for the Once for Wales digital learning programme, comprising an all Wales e-learning platform that hosted over 200 e-learning modules, developed in partnership and shared across NHS Wales and the wider public sector. NWSSP Managing Director Neil Frow said: I am delighted with the team s progress and the further developments that have been made over the last few months, especially the benefits being achieved across the public sector and the team s approach to collaborative working. Using technology is a key strand of our strategy which removes duplication, saves costs and ensures the transferability of knowledge and skills on a consistent basis across organisations. Our Leadership and Management Graduates 2016 A number of NWSSP colleagues graduated in 2016 with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 5 qualification in Leadership and Management. In collaboration with training providers Talk Training, our graduates consisted of staff from across Legal and Risk Services, Primary Care Services and Procurement Services, as well as former members of NWSSP who are still working within NHS Wales. The qualification, which took over 2 years for the students to complete, has provided the graduates with a sound management platform to develop into the next phase of their careers in terms of management theory and leadership styles. Our graduates with Director of Finance and Corporate Services, Andy Butler (far left) and NWSSP Managing Director, Neil Frow (centre) The courses, led by our Learning and Development team, have enabled staff to progress in their roles over the past few years. 48

49 Good Practice & Recognition NWSSP Supports Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Wales Awards 2016 The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Wales Awards is an annual ceremony that provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of nurses who demonstrate excellence in practice. The event was held on 16 November at City Hall, Cardiff, and was themed around the RCN s UK Centenary. NWSSP s Workforce, Education and Development Services (WEDS) division have supported the Student Nurse of the Year Award category since the RCN Wales Awards inception in The award aims to recognise Nursing/ Midwifery students who have shown exceptional promise during their professional education and/or practice placements. The award winner was announced as Stephanie Harris from Bangor University. From left: Tina Donnelly, Director of the RCN in Wales, Stephanie Harris, Student Nurse of the Year and WEDS Director, Stephen Griffiths NWSSP Colleague Finalist in BBC and Denbighshire Volunteer of the Year Awards On 5 December 2016, Procurement Services colleague Delyth Jones attended the BBC Sports Wales Awards at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff, as a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year Award. Also during December, at the Denbighshire Sports Awards in North Wales, Delyth won the Volunteer of the Year Award and for the next 12 months becomes their Sports Ambassador. Delyth said: To win the Denbighshire Volunteer of the Year and Sports Ambassador was a shock but when I heard I d been shortlisted and a finalist in the BBC Sports Wales Awards I was overwhelmed. Delyth with BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year, Jade Jones Delyth (left), wins the Denbighshire Volunteer of the Year Award Delyth narrowly missed out to eventual winner Chris Landon for his services to Welsh Cycling 49

50 Good Practice & Recognition Procurement Services Demonstrate Excellence at HCSA Awards NWSSP Procurement Services were honoured, collectively and individually, at the prestigious Heath Care Supply Association (HCSA) Awards ceremony on 18 November 2016 in Harrogate, England. Procurement Services received 4 awards in total, reflecting some of their outstanding achievements over the past year, which included the awards for Sustainable Procurement and Procurement and Supply Chain Management Collaboration. Individually, Nic Cowley won the Chairman s Award for Lifetime Achievement, with Phil Thomas winning the Emerging Talent Award. Procurement Services, winners at the 2016 HCSA Awards ceremony Bridgend Regional Stores retains Excellence in Food Safety The Procurement Services Supply Chain, Bridgend Stores, were successful in retaining their Food Safety accreditation on 6 December In addition, there were no non-conformances or corrective actions raised against the standard. The STS Food Safety Audit ensures that the Regional Stores facility meets the standards required to supply the NHS in Wales. The accreditation covers the basics in food hygiene for low risk food handlers and includes the risks and responsibilities associated with handling food, personal hygiene, housekeeping, contamination and quality processes. The Supply Chain Regional Stores have to produce and adhere to a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control points (HACCP) document to evidence a systematic preventative approach to food safety that addresses all types of hazards, as a means of prevention, rather than finished product inspection. The audit is carried out annually across each regional Store in Bridgend, Cwmbran and Denbigh. 50

51 Good Practice & Recognition NWSSP Attain Recognition for Quality and Improvement by Wales Quality Centre NWSSP was recognised by the Wales Quality Centre (WQC) for its commitment to strengthening processes and developing staff to drive business growth, at the 20th Wales Quality Awards held on 17 November 2016 in the Vale Hotel, Cardiff. NWSSP colleagues at the WQC Awards, 2016 Procurement and Primary Care Services divisions were honoured with the Wales Quality Award (WQA), which is based on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) European Excellence Model that helps organisations from all sectors in Wales become more competitive and sustainable through a root-and-branch review of structures and operations. Procurement Services won the award for Resources and Partnerships, whilst Primary Care Services won the award for Most Improved Organisation for the second year in succession. NWSSP s other divisions were also honoured for their commitment to business improvement, with Employment Services receiving the Gold certificate standard. Workforce and OD, Audit and Assurance Services and Finance and Corporate Services, Silver, with Specialist Estates Services attaining Bronze. On winning the award for Primary Care Services, Director Dave Hopkins, said: Primary Care Services received the same recognition at the 2014 awards ceremony. I believe this further highlights the progress that we have made since coming together as part of NWSSP, and evidences the way all staff have bought into a culture of continuous development, with a major factor being to improve the quality of everything we do. From left: Alex Evans and Ceri Evans accepting Primary Care Services award Sharon Webber accepting Procurement Services award NWSSP Team Lead Successful Technology Enabled Learning Conference On 25 January 2017, the NWSSP Technology Enabled Learning (TEL) team held a national public sector conference in the Cardiff City Stadium. The conference was attended by almost 100 delegates from NHS Wales, Local Authorities, the Fire Service and Local Government. The aim of the day was to showcase the huge amount of e-learning collaboration across Wales in the NHS, Local Authorities and third sector. One of the key elements discussed at the event was the ongoing enhancements to the elearning@wales online platform, which was designed by the TEL team, and is the national learning portal for mandatory, statutory and other training needs. Donna Harris from the TEL Team at the Cardiff event 51

52 Good Practice & Recognition Specialist Estates Services Attain Customer Service Excellence Award Specialist Estates Services were found to have a deep understanding of, and commitment to, Customer Service Excellence. The commitment was displayed from Senior Management levels through to operations and front-line staff. This was the glowing introduction to the most recent Customer Service Excellence award report, received in February 2017, following a two day assessment on January The award, received for a further 3 years, is testament to the hard work of all of the Specialist Estates Services (SES) staff providing estates and facilities related services to NHS Wales and the Welsh Government. SES Director Neil Davies attributed the success of the re-assessment to the professionalism, expertise and commitment of all SES staff to meet and exceed customer service requirements. Workforce, Education and Development Services Hold Key Workforce Transformation Conference On 16 March 2017, Workforce, Education and Development Services (WEDS) held an NHS Wales Workforce Transformation Conference at the All Nations Centre, Cardiff. The aim of the conference was to develop the key skills of the attendees from across NHS Wales and discover solutions that can help deliver a skilled and flexible workforce. Evaluation and feedback showed that delegates enjoyed the workshops, particularly the interactive aspect, with 87% rating the event as good or excellent. Delegates were also given a postcard in their pack, which offered them the opportunity to state what they felt NHS Wales should do and state what they promised to do to support the agenda. Claire Smith from WEDS at the Workforce conference 52

53 Good Practice & Recognition Collaboration between NWSSP Procurement Services and Welsh Ambulance Services Trust Puts New Service into Action In 2016 and 2017, NWSSP Procurement and Health Courier Services worked closely with Welsh Ambulance Services Trust (WAST) to prepare a quantity of Mass Casualty bags for use in the event of a mass casualty situation. Mass Casualty Bags contain standard paramedic response bag items and additional items such as collars, splints, Major Haemorrhage Packs and blankets. The bags will be held in various locations across Wales, and vehicles will be put into operation by WAST to deploy the equipment if ever needed. Jon Cunningham and Andrew Watt of Bridgend Stores load cages full of Mass Casualty Bags The commissioning of the vehicles and associated service represents almost two years of partnership working, with initial and ongoing funding provided by Welsh Government. Graham Davies, Deputy Director for Procurement and Health Courier Services commented: The project has demonstrated excellent collaborative working, not only between NWSSP, Welsh Government and Welsh Ambulance Services Trust, but also within NWSSP Procurement and Health Courier Services. WAST Incident Support Unit Vehicle, which will be used to deploy the Mass Casualty Bags NWSSP Wins Prestigious CIPD Award for Innovative GP Lead Employer Service The innovative Single Lead Employer Service (SLE) for GP trainees in Wales won the Human Resources/ Learning & Development (L&D) Supplier Category Award at the annual Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) awards ceremony held on 27 September From left: Hazel Robinson, Claire Howells and Emma Donoghue The award highlighted the successful work that was carried out by the NWSSP SLE team in implementing a brand new service, whereby NWSSP became the single lead employer for all GP Trainees across Wales. The success of the service was also achieved with the support of key departments within NWSSP including Payroll, Finance, Legal and Risk and the ESR team. The single employer has resulted in the streamlining of processes and procedures and enhanced the quality and efficiency of the employment service. Engagement with GP trainees and multiple key stakeholders, such as Welsh Government, the Wales Deanery and BMA Wales, has given all parties the confidence that a consistent service is being provided throughout Wales. 53

54 Good Practice & Recognition Supporting the Future of NHS Wales at SkillsCymru October 2016 saw the return of SkillsCymru, the careers and skills events for Wales. For the third consecutive year, NWSSP Workforce, Education and Development Services (WEDS), with the support of colleagues from Health Boards, Trusts and Higher Education Institutes, organised NHS Wales stand at the Llandudno and Cardiff events. Visitors to the stand learnt about the 350 plus careers available in the NHS and were able to get a real understanding about the roles by speaking to experts. Colleagues proactive approach, support and hard work clearly impressed the visitors- voted for by the students, the South Wales stand won the award for most engaging stand. Sharon Jenkins, Careers Officer, WEDS, who helped to co-ordinate the 2 events said: Being part of SkillsCymru gives the next generation of NHS Wales a real insight into who we are and what we do. We ensure that our stand is really interactive and packed with professionals who provide our visitors with virtual hands on experience. Primary Care Services Support Successful Engagement Session with Health Board On 22 June 2016, Primary Care Services (PCS) were invited by Hywel Dda University Health Board to engage with GPs, Partners, Practice Managers and Senior Practice Staff to promote their Patient Medical Record Storage and Retrieval Service, share information regarding other services PCS offer, and promote the use of the ActionPoint system. This was the second event PCS attended for the Health Board, and the team produced an eye catching promotional display which including leaflets, booklets, fliers, notepads and pens. The stand was co-ordinated by colleagues Ceri Evans, Alex Evans and Sam Johnston, who noted the event to be a success with a number of GP practices expressing an interest in PCS services. Special thanks was also given to the NWSSP Print Room in Mamhilad, Pontypool, for their creativity and attention to detail in designing a professional-looking stand and promotional material, and to everyone else involved who supported the preparations for the day. From left: Ceri Evans, Sam Johnston and Alex Evans 54

55 Good Practice & Recognition Procurement Services and Public Health Wales in Collaboration with Innovative Our Space Project The 2016 Our Space project was the first collaboration between Public Health Wales (PHW) and the Frontline NWSSP Procurement Team. The project involved working with PHW to establish a new base in the new Capital Quarter landmark development in the heart of Cardiff. The approach to this project was innovative as it was primarily sustainability focused, which challenged Procurement Services to acquire new knowledge and to develop a collaborative workspace. With this in mind, Procurement Services have also met PHW and NWSSP s sustainability objectives and have received positive feedback as a result, with acknowledgment by the PHW Senior Management Team and Chief Executive of Public Health Wales The new Capital Quarter building in Cardiff Specialist Estates Services Support Successful Awareness Sessions The Designed for Life: Building for Wales construction frameworks will support the efficient and effective delivery of capital projects and enable Health Boards and Trusts within Wales to rapidly procure from a team of preselected parties in competition. They will also provide assurance and governance that preselected parties meet all prescribed standards, to ensure that value for money is at the forefront of all projects. These proposals were presented to the construction industry by Specialist Estates Services at two awareness events held in North and South Wales in July 2016 to invite further comment, ensuring that the structure of the future frameworks attract the broadest interest from contractors and consultants capable of delivering capital construction schemes for the NHS within Wales. Both events were very well attended by delegates from national and regional contractors, suppliers, consultants, Health Boards, Welsh Government and other Welsh public sector procurement organisations. 55

56 Good Practice & Recognition Primary Care Services Director Nominated as Finalist in Institute of Directors (IoD) Wales Awards 2016 In 2016, the IoD Wales celebrated the sixth year of the IoD Awards. The awards has a number of categories including Director in the Public Sector and Dave Hopkins, (pictured) Director of NWSSP Primary Care Services, was nominated for the IoD Wales Director of the Year (Public Sector). Dave commented: I felt honoured to be mentioned in the same breath as my fellow finalists who had made an outstanding contribution in their particular fields. If nothing else, NWSSP, and in particular Primary Care Services, can be proud that the organisation has been recognised by such a renowned body, and my nomination is a direct result of the way everyone has pulled together and embraced our journey in modernising our services over the last 4 years. 56

57 Case Studies Primary Care Services Patient Medical Records (PMR) Store and Scan on Demand Programme While many GP practices predominantly use electronic medical records, current legislation states that paper records must be produced either upon the death of a patient or if a patient registers with another practice. Following an initial request from a GP practice for a temporary storage solution for their paper medical records (PMR), the concept of off-site storage was developed. The space restrictions at GP practices became apparent and a solution was proposed which could utilise the existing all-wales storage facility to ensure an efficient records delivery service supported by established courier transport arrangements. This service would allow Health Boards an opportunity to review their longer term estates requirements. The establishment of a PMR Storage and Scan on Demand Service embodies NWSSP s core values and is consistent with the strategic aims. Further, the service satisfies the Welsh Government prudent healthcare agenda by making the most effective use of available resources to ensure high quality and consistent services across Wales: Creating invaluable space within practices to improve and expand the delivery of general medical services Enabling GP practices to effectively respond to the developing primary care agenda, further supporting cluster networks as they mature Promoting equity: supporting the principle that the individual s clinical need is the priority when determining NHS treatment. Supporting the Once for Wales approach in removing duplication of effort and reducing variation across the country The implementation of this service provides key benefits of: Releasing pressure on the primary care estate and supporting the ongoing modernization within the Health Board s estate strategies High quality scanned images produced and electronically transferred to the GP practice via the secure NHS portal Assurance that records are being managed within NHS services in line with defined KPIs and tested standard operating procedures (SOPs) Environmental benefits in terms of air pollution through the reduction and eventual removal of courier services The reallocation of a valuable practice resource. This live programme is an integral part of NWSSP s Integrated Medium Term Plan (IMTP) and is recognised as a key objective for Primary Care Services. Early calculations indicate financial rewards associated with the programme to the broader NHS in Wales and will also enable engagement and service re-design that aligns to the NHS Wales Primary care Plan 2018, delivering a modernised service that promotes sustainability across NHS Wales Primary Care. 57

58 Case Studies Specialist Estates Services GP Premises Rental Reimbursement General Practitioners (GPs) are reimbursed for their practice premises rents and rates under the regime known as the Doctor s Rent and Rates Scheme (DRRS). The process of assessment and reimbursement of rents incurred by GPs for the provision of General Medical Services (GMS) is governed by the NHS (General Medical Services Premises Costs)(Wales) Directions 2015 (which replaced the 2004 version). These Premises Directions define the basis of assessment and reimbursement of payments. GPs can receive one of three types of rental reimbursement relating to the occupation of premises funded through Health Boards. These are reviewed on a 3-yearly cycle and are known as Cost Rents, Notional Rents and Lease Rents. Rental reimbursement payments in Wales total about 25 million per annum on approximately 630 GP premises in Wales. In 2012, NWSSP Facilities Services (FS), as Specialist Estates Services (SES) was known then, identified a new service development area of work the provision of a GP rental reimbursement valuation service to Health Boards (HBs). At the time, this service was undertaken by District Valuer Services, (a commercial arm of the Valuation Office Agency), on a chargeable fee basis. Concerns had been raised by Health Boards about the level of fees charged and the lack of consistency and accuracy with the process. This led to discussions with Health Boards about FS undertaking the work, and the proposal of a pilot project was well-received. It was agreed that the service would be provided on a chargeable cost-recovery basis. The service initially commenced with pilot projects in the Cardiff & Vale and Hywel Dda University Health Boards during 2013/14, when FS became SES. Following the success of these pilots and positive feedback received, the service was gradually expanded across the other organisations and all 7 Health Boards were receiving the service by the end of The project is now in its fourth year and some of the valuations, for those Health Boards who came on board early in the process, are being completed for the second time. It will take 2½ years for valuations to be undertaken for all GP premises in Wales. The development and expansion of the GP rental reimbursement valuation service has also necessitated the development of a GP practice database, an invoicing system and quality assured procedures, and the production of terms of engagement. The feedback from Health Boards about the service provided by SES has, without exception, been positive, with comments regarding the timeliness of the service ( valuations are carried out in a timely and planned manner but the team are also flexible in their approach and able to adapt as required ), -the accuracy and consistency of approach ( I am confident that the work being undertaken by the team means that we are on a much sounder footing regarding rent reviews going forward and that a consistent approach is being applied ), the clear and detailed information provided ( the correspondence is clear, provides clear comparisons, history of valuations and any issues are brought to the fore. The s always provide options and solutions from which we can make our decisions ) along with the reduced fees paid ( we are seeing a reduction over the costs we were incurring previously and the charges offer good value for money compared to historical costs ) being regularly received, which clearly demonstrates the service delivery and value for money benefits. 58

59 Case Studies Salary Sacrifice Lease Cars Scheme In 2014, NWSSP launched a staff benefit in the form of a Lease Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme, in association with NHS Fleet Solutions. The scheme is designed to provide all permanent members of staff with the option of access to a new car at a competitive price, providing savings for the organisation that will support the services provided to patients. Salary Sacrifice Scheme Key Statistics 638 Salary Sacrifice Scheme orders processed for 2016/2017 Over 1500 cars ordered for NHS Wales staff since 2014 Generated in excess of 900,000 annual savings across NHS Wales GP Specialty Registrar Trainees Single Point of Contact A major national and international recruitment campaign to market Wales and NHS Wales as an attractive place for doctors, including GPs, to train, work and live was launched on 20 October Organisations across Wales, including NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, attended the British Medical Journal Careers fayre on 21 and 22 October. In order to support GPs and other primary care professionals who wish to work in Wales, a single point of contact has been developed, and this is managed by the GP Registrar team within NWSSP. The single point of contact provides an easily accessible source of information on medical careers and general practice. It provides first level support to anybody responding to the campaign or interested in working in NHS Wales. This will be through the method of signposting to particular parties who will be able to assist with enquiries, including Health Boards, Wales Deanery and Welsh Government. The single point of contact leads on the monitoring and evaluation of all enquires that are received via the single point of contact portal. The team also use the network of champions that is available throughout NHS Wales, whose role is to act on any referrals they receive, especially in relation to any health professionals who wish to relocate to Wales and discuss the merits of working in Wales. Audit and Assurance Services Internal Audit: Recommendation Tracking Audit and Assurance Services are piloting a new function in our audit software with one Health Board, to ensure that all agreed internal audit recommendations are tracked following the receipt of management response, estimated implementation date, and defined action Owner and Final approver. Using this software will enable the Owner of each agreed recommendation to update progress on implementation, any delays, and revised timelines directly, following receipt of a system-generated reminder, and negate the need for the Board Secretary to issue follow-up s and record update positions. This will save time for Health Boards and Trusts, and prompt on-time updates to provide greater assurance to Audit Committees. Roll-out of the approach across other Health Boards and Trusts is expected during 2017/18. 59

60 Case Studies Changes to our Audit Opinion Audit And Assurance Services have updated the approach to their year-end audit opinion, in discussion with Board Secretaries and Audit Committee Chairs, to more closely reflect the wide range of objectives and risks across NHS Wales. The approach now gives equal weighting to eight key areas of focus, covering governance and risk, finance, strategic planning and performance management, clinical governance, quality and safety, workforce, information governance and security, operational service, and capital and estates. This will ensure our audit opinions continue to reflect the full range of risks that Health Boards and Trusts face in delivering their complex and varied health services to the people of Wales. Investment in IM&T Audit As part of our modernising Internal Audit strategy, we have created a small dedicated Information Management & Technology (IM&T) team to help focus our audit work more effectively on the key information and IT system that drives the NHS in Wales. In particular, the team is delivering a continuous auditing approach across the major all-wales financial systems, to increase the ongoing assurance we can provide to Health Board and Trust Boards. The approach involves a greater focus on key controls and the identification of potential exceptions and errors, to minimise the risk of financial loss. Digital Workforce Solutions Occupational Health Project With evidence of waste, duplication and delays in the recruitment on-boarding process, a scoping exercise was undertaken to determine where automation could drive efficiencies. It was determined that the occupational health clearance processes could be significantly improved by ESR interfacing technology, which would remove duplication of data entry and reduce occupational health clearance process steps to ensure efficient and safe recruitment processes. To determine the degree of variation in processes, a process mapping exercise was undertaken with the key stakeholders. This exercise provided significant evidence of differing processes, duplication of data entry, dependency on manual and paper- based processes and lack of standard operating procedures across the various organisations. Three pilot organisations were identified to test and implement the solution, with the following benefits and efficiencies realised: Standardisation and embedding of robust operating processes between occupational health and recruitment An 80% reduction in duplication of data entry for occupational health administration teams Occupational health process steps have been reduced by approximately 20% Establishment of standard data sets, significantly reducing variation Portability has been enabled, resulting in pre-employment data being available to occupational health at an earlier stage in the recruitment process Time savings of 23,835 hours per annum within occupational health and recruitment processes Cost efficiencies of approximately 40K per annum across the pilot organisations Avoidance of the sending of approximately 3,000 clearance s per annum as a result of ESR workflow notifications Improved business intelligence relating to occupational health service being available through development of new ESR reporting tools 60

61 Case Studies The project has significantly raised the occupational health service s profile and enhanced contract benefits, including collaborating with the pilot organisations to maximise training, OH developments and user forums A robust costing and benefits model has been developed with Professor Nick Rich from the University of Swansea, which provides academic rigour when calculating the above benefits The deployment of ESR Self Service has been progressed by organisations to ensure the data is current and correct An audit of the bi-directional interface has been successfully achieved, to provide assurance that new processes are robust and safe. Further project benefits were identified as a result of a recent stakeholder benefits and costing workshop. These include: Enhancing the interface between ESR and the NHS Wales recruitment software (TRAC). This will remove duplication of OH clearance data entry by recruitment staff. The specification for this enhancement is in progress Implementation of electronic pre-employment health questionnaires. This will require additional data portability from the interface to pre-populate position requirements, but will reduce delays in preemployment health information by approximately 50%, meaning quicker on-boarding of new employees and further removal of recruitment and occupational health process steps. Benefits for the patient include: Visibility on the OH interventions and immunisations required for staff groups, so assurance and safe patient care is provided Speedier on-boarding new employees, so safe staffing levels are assured Prudent use of public money, by ensuring processes are efficient, streamlined, speedy and automated Maximised contractual benefits and value for money Synchronicity of processes, visibility of interactions, and development of a culture that actively embraces continuous improvement. 61

62 Case Studies ESR Self Service Portal Velindre NHS Trust and hosted organisations went live with the ESR Self Portal, as part of the beta pilot, towards the end of January The deployment was tightly controlled in the immediate days following the Portal being available, with initial access limited to the ESR Project Team before being extended to Workforce, Corporate and Finance departments. Successful testing resulted in full Service Portal deployment from mid-february 2017 for the rest of the organisation. The ESR Self Service Portal totally transforms the ESR user experience by providing a user-friendly interactive Portal for undertaking workforce transactions. The ESR Portal is available to access from work and from home via mobile and tablet technology. An ESR App is available to download, and has proven to be popular for viewing pay slips prior to payday. Prior to the full launch of the Portal, a series of marketing and engagement events were undertaken, including presentations to Local Partnership Forums, Senior Management Teams, Workforce Managers, Business Partners and the Learning & Development community. This provided an opportunity for the organisation to impact assess its Portal readiness from an IT, cultural and business process perspective. A communication and engagement tool-kit that included presentations, posters, step guides and other readiness tools was developed to support engagement. Within 6 weeks of the Portal being released, almost 50% of the workforce had logged into, and continued to return to, the Employee Self Service Portal to not only view payslips, but request to annual leave and access e-learning materials. Monitoring continues, to ensure employees use this new Self Service Portal to its full potential, as this is a key enabler to paper-free workforce transactions and the reduction of errors, duplication and inefficiencies. Legal & Risk Services Personal Injury Team Legal & Risk Services Personal Injury Team, lead by Andrew Hynes, has celebrated another successful year providing a comprehensive service to its clients. The team produces a six monthly File Review report for each of its clients, which provides a snap-shot of every claim within its portfolio, in addition to rolling graphs which show trends across the portfolio of personal injury claims and trends in relation to specific categories of claims such as violence and aggression. The graphs enable the client to compare data / trends from when the file review started in 2012 to the present. This helps the clients to identify problem areas which require risk management. The team continues to prepare and develop educational talks, in response to trends and problems identified within the case portfolio and training requests from clients. In addition, the team hosted another successful personal injury law training day. Cardiff & Vale Clinical Negligence Team It was identified that spinal injury claims against Cardiff and Vale University Health Board were particularly difficult and challenging. This was due not only to the nature of the cases, but also because the spinal surgeons would regularly fail to engage with both the Health Board claims managers and Legal and Risk in terms of providing initial comments, returning witness statements on time, attending conferences and responding to expert reports. In order to address these issues, we proposed to the client that the clinical negligence Cardiff Team Lead and Senior Solicitor meet with the spinal surgeons, to provide training and discuss the issues. The aim was to engage and build good relationships with the key consultants, to hopefully improve their engagement with Legal and Risk. The proposal for training was put to the lead spinal clinician for the Health Board, who agreed this would be helpful. A talk was therefore prepared and delivered to all 7 consultant spinal surgeons at the University Hospital of Wales. Immediately following the conclusion of the talk, all of the spinal surgeons engaged in a very lively question and answer session. It was agreed with the spinal surgeons that they would become more involved in their claims and that they would send us a list of proposed experts whom they trust and respect to prepare expert reports concerning the highly skilled work that they do. 62

63 Case Studies ABUHB Clinical Negligence Team The Aneurin Bevan (ABUHB) clinical negligence team attends a quarterly meeting with the Health Board s Sub Litigation Group to seek authority on cases with a potential value of over 100,000. Those in attendance are the Chairman, Chief Executive, Medical Director, Assistant Medical Director and Non Executive Board members. The Legal & Risk team presents claims in which they are seeking authority to either make admissions in relation to liability or to make offers in relation to damages. These meetings provide the Board with the opportunity to raise issues they have with the cases presented to them, and to ask further questions and seek further advice. It allows the Health Board to consider cases in a way which is not possible by simply reviewing the matter on paper. It also enables the Board members to come to a final conclusion as to what steps the Health Board wish to take in relation to these high value cases, and to ensure that lessons have been learnt where necessary. Complex Patient Team The Complex Patient Team deals with cases involving disputes over complex clinical scenarios, including end of life decisions. In preparing for a case, the Team will engage directly with the clinicians in order to take witness statements. This is often a very intensive and exhausting process which the evidence presented needs to be comprehensive but clear. In order to work around the clinicians, who are often extremely busy with their clinical duties, the team will decamp to an appropriate site within the client s hospital. The ability to work paperless, with nothing more than a laptop, makes the Team highly mobile and flexible while being able to keep information secure. For example, on several occasions solicitor Gavin Knox has worked from an ITU during a weekend. By doing this he is able to meet with the relevant staff and family at a time that is convenient to them. The ability to conduct these meetings face to face can often help resolve issues without the need to resort to Court intervention. BCUHB Clinical Negligence Team The Legal & Risk Betsi Cadwaladr (BCUHB) clinical negligence team has continued to provide a full litigation and advice service to the BCU Health Board, and also worked with the Training department in Bangor to develop a comprehensive study day. This took place in Bangor in September 2016, covering a wide range of medico-legal topics including the recent changes to the law on consent and day to day practicalities of documentation and record keeping. It was well-attended and well-received and will be built upon and rolled out across the other sites of the Health Board in the next year. Such initiatives have a big impact on increasing awareness and highlighting risk issues for clinical staff across the board. It also promotes greater collaboration between Health Board staff and Legal & Risk to resolve claims. This co-operation was particularly impressive in a surgical claim in Wrexham, where input from the consultants was crucial and resulted in the claim being withdrawn following service of detailed and comprehensive witness statements. Costs Team Certain lawyers in the Legal & Risk team have a particular interest in the costs litigation and negotiation crucial to finalising a claim. Occasionally, the costs issues can be more complex, and a bigger bone of contention, than the compensation claim. The team trains colleagues internally, scans the horizon for new rules and cases which affect this area of law, and have achieved huge success in keeping the costs payable to the claimants solicitors to a reasonable level. 63

64 Case Studies Workforce, Education and Development Services (WEDS) Education and Training Plan The Workforce Education & Development Services (WEDS) team worked with Stakeholders, including NHS Wales and Welsh Government, to develop education and training recommendations to ensure that NHS Wales has the workforce it needs to meet healthcare needs. The plan was approved by the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport in February 2017 and included: 95 million package to support a range of education and training programmes for healthcare professionals in Wales Enabling more than 3000 new students to join those already studying on healthcare education programmes across Wales A 13% increase in nursing training places (on top of the 10% increase in 2016/17 and 22% increase in 2015/16) A 40% increase in midwifery training places An additional 500,000 to support community healthcare such as advanced practice, education and extended skills training to support primary care clusters Following advice from WEDS, Welsh Government agreed to fund new national programmes for: Sonography Radiography assistant practitioner programme Graduate entry audiology assistant practitioner programme MSc in medical genomics. In addition, WEDS worked closely with the Wales Deanery to produce, for the first time, a set of medical workforce recommendations which were received by Chief Executives. This work was supported by WEDS via the All Wales Strategic Medical Workforce group. The recommendations were supported by Chief Executives and subsequently approved by the Cabinet Secretary, resulting in additional specialty training posts being approved for a range of specialties including Clinical Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Pathology. 64

65 Case Studies Workforce Benchmarking Tools Over the past 3 years, WEDS have been committed to developing and sharing national datasets and tools that enable managers to benchmark their organisation against other organisations. The tools currently available to NHS Wales are the Skills Mix Analyser, Workforce Interactive Tool, Agency/Locum tool, Age Profile Tool and iview. During 2016/17 these tools were demonstrated to 146 people, and 118 new people have requested access to the tools via the SharePoint site. The newest interactive tool WEDS have designed and made available across Wales is the NHS Wales Performance Dashboard. This focuses on high level workforce indicators which we know to be critical to organisation performance (patient outcomes and experience). The Dashboard itself is an Excel based interactive graphical reporting tool that enables high level benchmarking and the ability to drill into the data to glean more detailed data insights. The data held within the Performance Dashboard is: Annual Appraisal Rate Statutory & Mandatory training Questions from the Staff Survey Sickness Absence Rate Turnover Rate Contracted Workforce Workforce pay bill elements (Variable, Basic & Agency) Roll out of ESR self service. Further metrics will be added in the future. The previous tools designed by WEDS have used data from one source (ESR Data Warehouse), whereas the Performance Dashboard is submitted monthly to WEDS by the Workforce Information Managers from each organisation. In order to ensure data consistency across all organisations, a comprehensive set of guidance notes have been agreed and designed. Also, where possible, all data is retrieved from ESR using the same ESR Business Intelligence dashboard reports. The Performance Dashboard has been demonstrated to senior teams within Health Boards and Trusts. Some organisations are using the graphs and analysis from the Dashboard in their Board papers. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport also receives the Dashboard on a quarterly basis. Workforce Planning Workforce Education and Development Services (WEDS) offered to provide a workforce transformation workshop to each of the Health Board/Trusts during 2016/17. The programme was designed mainly for clinical practitioners at band 7 and included: The opportunity to use the skill mix analyser and age profiling tools produced by WEDS Information and exercises on staff well-being and engagement Information on Advanced Practice, Physician Associate, the Band 2-4 Workforce and Delegation. While the interactive workshops were well received, the offer is being redesigned for the current year in order to reach more staff and to make it bespoke for each Health Board/Trust. 65

66 Case Studies Strengthening Partnership working with Careers Wales and Jobcentre Plus After the success of last year s events, WEDS hosted a further three NHS Wales Careers events for Jobcentre Plus and Careers Wales staff, extending the target audience to include schools and colleges. Covering the whole of Wales and attended by 173 delegates, the events highlighted: Career routes not necessarily associated with the NHS and available opportunities NHS Wales Careers information sources Labour market intelligence regarding shortage areas in health. Careers advisors, work coaches and teachers play a pivotal role in delivering careers information on behalf of NHS Wales to their clients/students. In order to update their knowledge, delegates had the opportunity to attend six workshops throughout the day. The workshops varied across the three events and were tailored to meet local need. The events not only updated advisors knowledge but also provided an opportunity to strengthen working relationships and collaboration with stakeholders. Showcasing NHS Wales to School Pupils via Webinar WEDS, in partnership with Careers Wales, developed a webinar aimed at pupils in years who were interested in finding out more about careers within NHS Wales. The purpose of the webinar was to reach a wide number of schools and highlight that NHS Wales offers not just medical/care roles but also clerical and supporting roles. Twenty three schools logged into the live webinar and pupils were given: An insight into what roles are available within NHS Wales An insight into what a career at NHS Wales can offer The opportunity to hear from NHS Wales staff about their career progression. Flexible Education Programmes WEDS, working with Welsh universities and NHS organisations, have secured new flexible routes to enable Health Care Support workers to undertake pre-registration nurse education programmes on a part time basis, normally over 4 years. During 2017/18 there will be 75 places available across Wales. 66

67 Case Studies Education Development New Qualifications Three new qualifications have been developed which will enable NHS Wales to: Comply with the all Wales Skills and Career Framework for HCSWs working within these specialist areas Provide a framework for the development of future and current roles Deliver person centred, co-ordinated, efficient and cost effective care to individuals. Have common role-specific education and training standards across Wales. These qualifications are: Agored Cymru Level 3 Diploma in Rehabilitation Support (Wales) For HCSWs who provide a 7 day service to service users who require prehabilitation and rehabilitation, ensuring a consistent service from a smaller team of support workers, to deliver recovery programmes throughout the week (including at week-ends). This is the first time that a qualification in Wales has been specifically designed to allow nursing and therapy support workers to undertake training to support the integration agenda together Agored Cymru Level 3 Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Support (Wales) For SLT support staff who work in a variety of both Child and Adult Services, covering communication skills, and eating and swallowing problems, such as dysphagia. The qualification can be utilised to increase skill mix, and capability and capacity. It will increase the capacity of the SLT registrants work with more complex cases Agored Cymru Level 3 Diploma in Primary Care Health Care Support (General Practice Wales) For HCSWs who provide support services in the General Practice setting. This qualification supports role governance and development, enhancing and ensuring the quality of the service delivery by HCSWs in General Practice. This is the first time that a vocational qualification in Wales has been specifically designed for HCSWs in General Practice 67

68 Governance NWSSP has two main Committees that have key roles in relation to the Governance and Assurance Framework. Each Committee is chaired by an Independent Member and undertakes scrutiny and development discussions, and assesses current risks and monitors performance in relation to the diverse number of services provided by NWSSP to NHS Wales. Shared Services Partnership Committee The Shared Services Partnership Committee (Partnership Committee) was established in accordance with the Velindre National Health Service Trust Shared Services Committee (Wales) Regulations 2012 No. 1261(W.156), and the functions of managing and providing shared services (professional, technical and administrative services) to the health service in Wales is included within the Velindre National Health Service Trust (Establishment) (Amendment) Order The composition of the Partnership Committee includes an Independent Chair, the Managing Director of Shared Services, and either the Chief Executive of each partner organisation in NHS Wales or a nominated representative who acts on behalf of the respective Health Board or Trust. NWSSP s governance arrangements are summarised below: Velindre NHS Trust NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Committee ESR Velindre Audit Committee for Shared Services Welsh Risk Pool Committee Workforce and Education Development and Advisory Services Group All Wales Medical Consumables and Devices Strategy Group ESR Programme Group Underpinned through the overarching Velindre NHS Trust legal and assurance framework 68

69 Governance The Partnership Committee has in place a robust Governance and Accountability Framework for NWSSP, including: Standing Orders Hosting Agreement Interface Agreement between the Chief Executive Velindre NHS Trust and Managing Director of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Accountability Agreement between the Partnership Committee and the Managing Director of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership. These documents, together with a Memorandum of Co-operation setting out the governance arrangements for the NHS Wales organisations and a hosting agreement, form the basis upon which the Partnership Committee s Governance and Accountability Framework is developed. Together with the Velindre Values and Standards of Behaviour framework, this is designed to ensure the achievement of the standards of good governance set for the NHS in Wales. The Membership of the Committee during the year ended 31 March 2017 is outlined in NWSSP s Annual Governance Statement which can be accessed at this link: Velindre Audit Committee for NWSSP The primary role of the Velindre NHS Trust Audit Committee for Shared Services (Audit Committee) has been to review and report upon the adequacy and effective operation of NWSSP s overall governance and internal control system. This includes risk management and operational and compliance controls, together with the related assurances that underpin the delivery of NWSSP s objectives. This role is set out clearly in the Audit Committee s terms of reference, which were revised in 2016/2017 to ensure these key functions were embedded within the standing orders and governance arrangements. The Audit Committee reviews the effective local operation of internal and external audit, as well as the Counter Fraud Service. In addition, it ensures that a professional relationship is maintained between the external and internal auditors so that reporting lines can be effectively used. The Audit Committee supports the Partnership Committee in its decision making and in discharging its accountabilities for securing the achievement of the NWSSP s objectives, in accordance with the standards of good governance determined for the NHS in Wales. The Membership of the Committee during the year ended 31st March 2016 is outlined in NWSSP s Annual Governance Statement which can be accessed at this link: 69

70 Governance The System of Internal Control As Accountable Officer, the Managing Director has responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership s (NWSSP), and the host s Velindre NHS Trust s policies, aims and objectives. The Managing Director also safeguards the public funds and departmental assets for which he is personally responsible, in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to him. The Managing Director is also responsible for ensuring that NWSSP is administered prudently and economically and that resources are applied efficiently and effectively. The 2016/2017 reporting period saw a number of changes to the composition of the Shared Services Partnership Committee (SSPC) and the Velindre Audit Committee for NWSSP. During this period, a number of major service changes were implemented by NWSSP for NHS Wales. Governance comprises the arrangements put in place to ensure that the intended outcomes for stakeholders are defined and achieved. Effective governance is paramount to the successful and safe operation of NWSSP s services. This is achieved through a combination of hard systems and processes including standing orders, policies, protocols and processes, and soft characteristics of effective leadership and high standards of behaviour (Nolan principles). The Managing Director of Shared Services is accountable to the SSPC in relation to those functions delegated to it. The Managing Director is also accountable to the Chief Executive of Velindre in respect of the hosting arrangements supporting the operation of Shared Services. 70

71 Governance The Governance Framework of the NWSSP To be effective, governance structures must be clear, transparent and integrated. They must be designed to facilitate, support and drive prudent health and care, co-production and integration. Therefore, NWSSP s governance and assurance arrangements have been aligned to the requirements set out in the Welsh Government s Governance e-manual and the Citizen Centred Governance Principles. The seven Citizen Centred Governance Principles provide the framework for the business conduct of the NWSSP and define its ways of working. Care has been taken to ensure that governance arrangements also reflect the requirements set out in HM Treasury s Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments: Code of Good Practice At a local level, Health Boards and NHS Trusts in Wales must agree Standing Orders for the regulation of proceedings and business. Standing Orders are designed to translate the statutory requirements set out within the Local Health Boards (Constitution, Membership and Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2009 into day to day operating practice, and, together with the adoption of a scheme of matters reserved to the Board, a scheme of delegations to officers and others, and Standing Financial Instructions, they provide the regulatory framework for the business conduct of the NWSSP and define its way of working. These documents, accompanied by Velindre NHS Trust policies and NWSSP s corporate protocols, are approved by the SMT and provide NWSSP s Governance Framework. Health Boards and NHS Trusts in Wales have collaborated over the operational arrangements for the provision of the shared services and have agreed the terms of a Memorandum of Co-operation, to ensure that the arrangements are introduced and operate effectively by collective decision making, in accordance with the policy and strategy set out above, determined by the Partnership Committee. Whilst the Partnership Committee acts on behalf of the Health Boards and NHS Trusts in undertaking its functions, the responsibility for the exercise of the Shared Services functions is shared by all NHS bodies in Wales. 71

72 Governance There are 4 key elements to the Financial Control environment for NWSSP, and these are illustrated in the diagram below. NWSSP Financial Control Overview The 4 Key Control Elements are: Governance Procedures As a hosted organisation NWSSP runs under the Governance Framework of Velindre NHS Trust. These procedures include the Standing Orders for the regulation of their proceedings and business. The statutory requirements have been translated into day to day operating practice, and, together with the Scheme of Reservation and Delegation of Powers and Standing Financial Instructions (SFIs), they provide the regulatory framework for the business conduct of the Trust. These arrangements are supported by detailed financial operating procedures that cover the whole of Velindre and also local procedures that are specific to NWSSP. Budgets and Plan Objectives Clarity is provided to operational functions through approved objectives and annual budgets. Performance is also measured against these during the year. Service Level Agreements NWSSP has Service Level Agreements in place with all customer organisations and with certain key suppliers. This ensures that there is clarity of expectations in terms of service delivery, mutual obligations and an understanding of the key performance indicators. The agreements are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that they remain up to date and take account of service developments. Reporting NWSSP has a broad range of financial and performance reports in place to ensure that the effectiveness of service provision and associated controls can be monitored and remedial action taken as and when required. Annual Governance Statement The Annual Governance Statement is a key feature of NWSSP s annual report on performance. It demonstrates how we managed and controlled resources in and the extent to which we complied with our own governance requirements. In doing so, it brings together all disclosures relating to governance, risk and control. The Audit Committee provide advice and assurance to both the Velindre NHS Trust Board and the SSPC on the adequacy of the NWSSP s strategic governance and assurance arrangements and processes for the maintenance of an effective system of good governance, risk management and internal control across the whole of the Partnership s activities designed to support the public disclosure statements that flow from the assurance processes, most important of which is the Annual Governance Statement. The Head of Internal Audit provides an annual opinion, to the accounting officer and the Velindre NHS Trust Audit Committee for NWSSP, on the adequacy and effectiveness of the risk management, control and governance processes to support the Statement. As a hosted organisation, NWSSP s annual governance statement also forms part of the Velindre NHS Trust s annual report and accounts. The Annual Governance Statement for can be accessed at this link and includes detailed information on risk management, information governance, Welsh Language and other compliance and assurance requirements. 72

73 Governance Information Governance There is an ever-increasing culture of confidentiality within NWSSP, with continual training and awareness, whilst promoting the Information Governance (IG) service on the intranet. In , the NWSSP Information Governance Manager (IGM) has rolled out a process of Information Asset Ownership within the organisation and has established an Information Governance Steering Group that meets quarterly. The NWSSP Information Governance Manager is also the chair of the all Wales Freedom of Information Community of Practice. Key activities include: Over 850 staff trained within the organisation since appointment of the IGM. Regular attendance at Corporate Induction Dedicated NWSSP Information Governance address linked to Actionpoint that has recorded over 500 calls in the previous year 86% compliance in IG online e-learning 94% compliant with the Caldicott selfassessment toolkit A reviewed, reformatted comprehensive suite of protocols and guidance documents (including development of those where gaps were identified) Established Information Governance risk register Established point of contact for NWSSP including Breach Reporting Work plans concentrating on IG, FOI and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Privacy Impact Assessment process for all major changes to working plans and new projects 73

74 Governance Risks and Challenges Business planning and risk management are at the centre of governance arrangements within NWSSP. There are a number of critical key enablers that need to be in place to ensure we can achieve our key priorities for action over the next three years. If some of these enablers are not in place to support us to deliver our ambitions, they can become a risk. There are also risks separate from the enablers which, if not managed appropriately, could affect delivery of our key priorities. Once for Wales We are able to make a fundamental contribution to wider All Wales priorities in support of prudent healthcare adopting a Once for Wales approach. We endeavour, through collaborative working, to carefully manage service improvements so benefits can be fully realised for NHS Wales. However, this is only possible if our partners are all willing to adopt one standardised process. IT & Modernisation IT modernisation is critical to driving efficiency through automation and innovation. However, NWSSP must be recognised as a strategic partner by our IT providers in order to ensure we can have the functionality we require to deliver the level of transformational change on a timely basis. Capital Funding Our enablers Capital investment is a key enabler for the delivery of improved efficiency and service improvement. An increase of discretionary capital funding is essential to deliver the full benefits of cash releasing savings, cost avoidance, improved quality, and health and safety developments. Critical Relationships Engagement and the mechanisms to engage about planning and priorities by Health Boards and Trusts is critical to our success. The benefits and value we can bring will only be fully realised by working in partnership.! Our risks Recruitment, retention and development of our staff Accommodation Our enablers that can become risks A consistent risk within the professional services is that recruitment and retention is challenging within A4C pay scales in comparison to the private sector. We will continue to develop social sourcing strategies coupled with ongoing development of existing workforce to ensure all staff possess the skills and knowledge to deliver high quality services. Significant progress has already been made to rationalise and improve the NWSSP estate, but further work is needed. The continuation and realisation of our accommodation strategy will enable us to have larger regional centres of excellence for resilience, efficiency, standardisation and collaboration.! Succession planning The challenges of an ageing workforce must be recognized as a risk internally. Further succession planning is required to ensure we have future leadership capacity. Our leadership development programme will be critical in helping develop the next generation of managers and staff at all levels in the organisation. Reputation and confidence How we are perceived influences the confidence others have in us to deliver services effectively. Through regular reviews and engagement at all levels we will demonstrate our success and the benefits our services bring, as well as areas where our performance doesn t meet service user needs and expectations. Central to our planning are conversations with our partners about their plans for the future and how we can support them with these plans. The Shared Services Partnership Committee are regularly asked how we can enable them to deliver for the communities in Wales. The committee members provide us with insight into how we can align our service developments with their needs. 74

75 Governance We maintain a corporate risk register and assurance framework that captures our high level risks, which is supported by individual directorate risk registers which capture frontline, operational risks. Any risks assessed as having a Red risk rating at directorate level are escalated to the Senior Management Team (SMT) to consider. The corporate risk register is a standing agenda item for the Shared Services Partnership Committee, Velindre NHS Trust Audit Committee for NWSSP and the SMT. Our risk management strategy is well-embedded and provides a clear path on which all future risk management initiatives are based. The strategy underpins the corporate risk register and risk assurance framework, and is intended to complement Health Board and NHS Trust strategies by establishing a comparable framework. A detailed analysis of significant organisational risk and mitigation is outlined within the Annual Governance Statement which can be accessed on this link: Management 75