NHS - Shared Business Services

Sharing best practice

At NHS Shared Business Services we work with the NHS for the NHS - we work exclusively with NHS Trusts and organisations, and are well placed to understand the issues and challenges faced by our clients.

NHS SBS has a dedicated Client Management service and each individual SBS client has a named client manager who will meet monthly with the client to review service performance, forthcoming service developments and strategic opportunities.

NHS SBS clients are actively involved in developing services through our Client User Forums. These are regular events organised regionally and nationally and provide a platform for clients to share best practice, discuss issues and help shape priorities for NHS Shared Business Services.

We also organise webinars, workshops and masterclasses for our clients to provide stimulating learning, policy development and networking opportunities.

Individual clients may also choose to take advantage of Assure 2, our best practice benchmarking service which has been developed using our experience of working across numerous client environments.

NHS SBS has recently undertaken a review of the Auditors Local Evaluation (ALE) and identified those Key Lines of Enquiry (KLIE) where our service offering can contribute to and positively influence the score achieved.

Improving financial control

NHS Shared Business Services Reporting provides accurate, timely and targeted management information delivered direct to clients via the NHS SBS web based reporting portal

We are able to offer our clients highly flexible reporting solutions with high levels of automation including FIMS and Monitor returns.

Budget holders are empowered to control costs via daily reports with updated information , whether they are ward sisters or pharmacy managers, they will get the information they need on which to base decisions to manage budgets effectively.

For Directors of Finance our financial controls offer improved governance with defined authorisation levels and robust audit trails to streamline processes. We can also deliver faster and more consistent month-end close down.

Maximising purchasing power

Purchasing represents one of the biggest potential areas of saving for any NHS organisation.

NHS Shared Business Services e-Procurement solution provides a wealth of information to help clients get best value when buying goods and services.

With around 25% of all NHS expenditure passing through NHS SBS systems, we can provide insight on where Trusts can make improvements and how they might benefit from collaborative procurement to boost purchasing power.

As well as this, with environmental issues now high on the DH agenda, our fully electronic e-Procurement solution helps Trusts to reduce their carbon footprint and reach their environmental targets.

NHS SBS dashboards provide our clients with valuable management information, enabling them to focus on key strategic issues.

Providing service excellence

With NHS Shared Business Services you can be confident that operational excellence is assured through our robust, leading-edge technology platform, state-of-the-art client contact centre and dedicated teams of NHS SBS people delivering customer-focused service to our clients.

NHS SBS operates under high standards of quality and audit control, and has achieved SAS70 accreditation for the past 3 years.

In addition, our clients have the security of contractual service levels, KPIs and the confidence of knowing that we have invested in operational excellence to ensure our service meets the highest commercial standards.

NHS SBS remains focused on the flexibility required to successfully deliver its portfolio of core and value added services to Trusts.

Leading-edge technology

Based on Oracle e-business suite, the NHS Shared Business Services financial platform has been configured and developed specifically with the needs of NHS organisations in mind, supporting the production of statutory and management accounts.

These systems are already proven, already stable , which means NHS SBS can be relied upon to deliver real value to our clients. Based on world class Oracle technology, we also combine best of breed specialist technology:

• Scanning tools and full drill-down to view individual invoices is integrated into our solution enabling clients full access and control.
• We take care of upgrades and enhancements at no additional cost to clients, providing future-proofed, leading-edge technology solutions.