NHSBSA January 2009 Board Minutes
NHS Business Services Authority
Confirmed Minutes of the NHSBSA Board Meeting held at 12.00pm on 15
January 2009 in the Board Room at Bridge House, Newcastle.
Present:
Paul Rich
Nick Scholte
Roberta Barker
Anne Galbraith
Michael Harling
Alistair McDonald
Jim Orr
John Smith
Jeremy Strachan
David Teale
Chair
Chief Executive
Director of Human Resources
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Chief Operating Officer
Commercial Director
Director of Finance
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
In Attendance:
Mark Dibble
Corporate Secretary
09/01 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence received from:
David Hulf
Non-Executive Director
09/02 Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 10 December 2008
The minutes of the previous meeting were AGREED as a true and accurate
record.
09/03 Matters Arising and Outstanding Actions from Previous Meetings
The Board NOTED progress against each of the previously agreed actions.
AP133
It was confirmed Mrs Galbraith and Mr Smith had attended and
completed the relevant security management training course.
09/04 Performance Report
Mr Smith introduced the financial report. He remained confident the NHSBSA
would meet its allocation target for the year. The revised financial forecast
reflected the previously reported changes following the Department of Health’s
spring supply exercise.
Mr Smith confirmed the increase in corporate costs was not cause for concern
because this report included any in-year pressures or DH project costs. He
added that the predicted costs were largely on track with the budget.
Author: M Dibble
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NHSBSA January 2009 Board Minutes
Mr McDonald introduced the remainder of the report. He explained there had
been no updates to the customer satisfaction information this month but
expected the March report to include updates from Dental Services and
Supply Chain.
Mr McDonald acknowledged that it may be difficult to improve pension case
administration because of the reliance upon NHS employers providing up to
date information. However, this may begin to improve because the new NHS
operating framework required employers to improve staff data within the
electronic staff record (ESR) system which provides information to NHS
pensions.
In response to a question, Mr McDonald confirmed the NHSBSA was prepared
for the introduction of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) subject to
appropriate testing. However, it was noted that systems within most
pharmacists would need to be upgraded to handle EPS.
Members noted a small increase in staff sickness over recent months. Mr
McDonald felt this was most likely down to the winter sickness/flu bug.
However, he highlighted the significant improvements in Pensions over recent
months with regard to both sickness and performance levels.
The Board NOTED the report.
09/05 Business Plan Performance Report
Mr McDonald introduced the quarterly report on all the objectives within the
NHSBSA business plan.
He reported that as at the end of December 2008, 55 of the 63 objectives were
green and either complete or on target. Seven objectives were amber and the
single red related to pensions modernisation and was already monitored by
the Board on a monthly basis to the board. This work remained red because it
had been suspended pending implementation of systems changes for the
introduction of the new pension scheme and ‘Choice’.
The Board NOTED the report.
09/06 Balance Sheet
Mr Smith introduced the quarterly report which advised the Board of the
NHSBSA’s financial position as at 30 September 2008.
The Board NOTED the balance sheet position. It also AGREED to receive
the balance sheet report only twice a year in the future.
The allocation tracking would continue to be reported quarterly within the
performance report.
ACTION: Mr Smith
Author: M Dibble
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NHSBSA January 2009 Board Minutes
09/06 Pensions Accounts
Mr Smith introduced the Pensions Accounts. He explained the Audit
Committee had thoroughly reviewed the documentation and recommended
them to the Board for adoption.
One emphasis of matter remained although another had been removed. Mr
Smith highlighted the ongoing work with NHS Trusts to sort out pension data
and address the outstanding emphasis of matter. The outcome of this work
should be reflected in the following year’s accounts.
The Board ADOPTED the accounts and hoped the outstanding emphasis of
matter would be removed in 2009/10. Mr Smith confirmed the accounts would
now be laid before parliament in accordance with the governing timescales.
09/07 Draft NHSBSA Strategy 2009-2014 & NHSBSA Business Plan
2009-2010
Mr Scholte introduced a five year strategy and a one year business plan for
the Board’s comments and approval. The documents were due to be
submitted as drafts to the Department of Health on 19 January 2009.
He explained the strategy set out the NHSBSA’s vision, mission, values and
aspirations for the business. The business plan provided SMART corporate
level objectives and was supported by separate business plans for corporate
services and each of the business streams.
The Board discussed the each of the documents and suggested some
amendments to them.
Mr Scholte agreed to consider all the suggestions and present final versions
to the Board in March.
It was also AGREED that in March, the Board would receive:


A revised strategy
A revised business plan and the following:
o A full list of the new business plan objectives against which the
Board will receive future quarterly reports.
o An updated roadmap with matching financials consistent with the
business plan figures.
o An update on how the final allocation and budgets have developed
following discussions with DH.
ACTION: Mr Scholte
09/08 Sustainable Development Update & Metrics
Mr Smith introduced a report which provided the Board with a progress report
on implementation of the NHSBSA’s Sustainable Development Action Plan.
Author: M Dibble
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NHSBSA January 2009 Board Minutes
The Board welcomed progress and AGREED the proposed metrics subject to
a single amendment. It was agreed it would offer improved organisational
benefits to measure performance against waste reduction rather than
recycling. Mr Smith agreed to amend accordingly.
ACTION: Mr Smith
Mr Smith confirmed the Board would be able to monitor performance against
the agreed metrics as part of their quarterly performance reports.
ACTION: Mr Smith
09/09 Health & Safety Update
Ms Barker updated the Board on health and safety issues.
She highlighted the progress being made in relation to the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) report received in late 2008. Ms Barker also informed
members of the ongoing review of the health and safety structure within the
NHSBSA. She confirmed that Stephen Totty, the NHSBSA Health & Safety
Manager, was continuing to work closely and positively with the HSE.
The Board NOTED the report.
09/10 Confirmed minutes of the Audit Committee held on 18 September
2008
The Board NOTED the content of the confirmed minutes.
09/11 Communications from the Meeting
Mr Rich highlighted the good performance across the organisation. He noted
that the strategy and business plan would be widely circulated once finalised
in late March. It was also noted that the Leadership Team would be
presenting the headlines of the strategy and business plan to trade unions in
early December.
09/12
Any Other Business
Mr Rich informed the Board that Bob Nicholls had been replaced by Ann
Lloyd as the Commissioner for London at the Appointments Commission. It
was not clear at this time whether Ms Lloyd would replace Mr Nicholls as the
NHSBSA’s formal link with the Commission.
09/13
Forward Agenda
The Board NOTED the forward agenda.
09/14
Date and Venue of the Next Meeting
The next meeting was to be held on 19 March 2009 at Bridge House in
Newcastle.
Author: M Dibble
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NHSBSA January 2009 Board Minutes
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
AP152 Receive balance sheet six monthly
AP153 Consider amendments to the strategy/business plan
and provide information as requested for March.
Mr Smith
Mr Scholte
AP154 Use waste reduction measure rather than recycling
Mr Smith
AP155 Include sustainability metrics in future
performance monitoring reports
Mr Smith
Author: M Dibble
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