NHS Shared Business Services gives £2.4m back to NHS clients
Latest payment brings total of over £6m savings paid to NHS over four years
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has reported that it has distributed a further £2.4m back to its NHS clients as part of a drive for economies in healthcare procurement.
The money is over and above the £224m in savings the organisation has committed to delivering to the NHS over a 10-year period, freeing up funds for frontline care.
At a time of continuing constraints on public expenditure we are pleased to continue to deliver significant cost savings for our NHS clients
While the majority of cost savings - between 20% and 40% -are delivered through operational efficiencies and improved service quality, NHS SBS also shares part of its surplus with its NHS clients. This latest payment brings the total surplus given back to the NHS over the last four years to over £6m.
NHS SBS has an eight year track record of providing strategic support services – finance and accounting, procurement and payroll and HR and is on target to deliver the £224m back to the NHS by 2014.
The organisation now provides finance and accounting services for 100% of all NHS commissioning organisations and the full range of business support services for around 30% of all NHS provider trusts.
Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, savings made through better working practices and more joined-up back office functions can be ploughed back into patient care
John Neilson, chief executive, said: “At a time of continuing constraints on public expenditure we are pleased to continue to deliver significant cost savings for our NHS clients. This is the fourth year we have been able to share part of our surplus with our clients, and I believe it demonstrates not only the commitment of our people, but also the real value of working in close partnership.”
Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, added: “Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, savings made through better working practices and more joined-up back office functions can be ploughed back into patient care.
“We need to transform the way we deliver health services to meet the needs of an ageing population and NHS SBS has shown that efficiencies can be made by working differently.”
