Correspondence

FT Bulletin 3 June 2015

Published 3 June 2015

Applies to England

1. For action

1.1 Board members, managers and governors: please respond to our consultation on updates to the risk assessment framework

Yesterday you received a letter from David Bennett outlining 4 main initiatives to help support you in addressing the challenges facing the NHS.

We are now consulting on some changes to our risk assessment framework which are intended to provide a greater focus on efficiency.

Please respond to the consultation by 5pm on Wednesday 1 July 2015, using this survey.

Further information about events and webinars we plan to hold during the consultation period will be sent to you as soon as possible.

New session at NHS Confederation Annual Conference on our consultation: Thursday 4 June at 12.45pm in room 11A

If you are at NHS Confederation Annual Conference tomorrow, Thursday 4 June, please come along to a session led by David Bennett, Monitor’s Chief Executive, and other senior Monitor staff, to ask us about the changes we’re proposing to our regulatory approach, and how we plan to support you.

1.2 Guidance on the consultancy spending approval process

Alongside David’s letter yesterday, you would have seen our guidance on the consultancy spending approval process. The approval process applies with immediate effect (as of yesterday, 2 June 2015) and applies to all future contracts, including those where contractual negotiations are in progress. Foundation trusts receiving interim support from the Department of Health and foundation trusts that are in breach of their licence for financial reasons are required to secure advance approval from Monitor before:

• signing new contracts for consultancy projects over £50,000
• extending or varying existing contracts or incurring additional expenditure to which they are not already committed (where the total contract value exceeds £50,000)

All other foundation trusts, particularly those under investigation by Monitor for financial breaches or planning a deficit for 2015/16, are strongly encouraged to comply with the above.

Please submit your completed business case approval form for consultancy contracts over £50,000 to [email protected].

1.3 NHS Confederation Annual Conference and Exhibition: come and visit us

If you are at NHS Confederation Annual Conference this week, come and see us at stand A7.

Adam Sewell-Jones, Executive Director of our new Provider Sustainability directorate, will be at the stand on Thursday.

As mentioned above, there is a special session at 12.45pm on Thursday 4 June in room 11A led by David Bennett.

Our other speakers across the programme are:

• Dr Ruth May on shaping the workforce for sustainable service delivery on Wednesday 3 June at 16.45pm
• David Bennett, who joins a CEO panel question and answer session on the Five Year Forward View, on Thursday 4 June at 17.45pm
• Helen Buckingham discussing the role of regulation in quality improvement alongside Professor Sir Mike Richards on Thursday 4 June at 9am
• Paul Dinkin talking about partnerships between independent and public sector providers on Thursday 4 June at 9am
• Nick Ville and Toby Lambert addressing sector finance in 2 breakout sessions (Thursday 4th June 9am and 12.45pm)

1.4 Jimmy Savile investigation reminder: please report on your safeguarding actions by 15 June

We are reporting to the Secretary of State on how the foundation trust sector has responded to Kate Lampard’s recommendations following the investigations into the activities of Jimmy Savile relating to the NHS.

To ensure your trust’s activity is reflected in this report, please email your response to [email protected] by 5pm Monday 15 June 2015.

1.5 In-year reporting for 2015/16 has now started

To prepare you for the Q1 reporting cycle, some changes have been made to the return template:

• to better understand pay costs, we will now be asking you to submit greater detail on your staff costs and whole-time equivalents (this information needs to be in the same format that you use under the workforce tab of your annual planning forms)
• there will be new targets for foundation trusts providing mental health services from Q3 (see page 51 of our risk assessment framework); the new template reflects these changes and we would encourage you to start including these in your returns from Q1

We are including further validation checks within the quarterly template to help you complete it but if you have any questions, please contact your relationship team.

1.6 Finance directors: sign up to take part in 2014/15 PLICS data collection by 8 June

Toby Lambert, Pricing Director at Monitor, has invited finance directors from acute foundation trusts to participate in the 2014/15 voluntary patient level information cost data collection.

You have until Monday 8 June to register your interest.

Find out more about the 2014/15 data collection, including benefits of participating. For further information and questions, please email [email protected].

1.7 HR leads, have you supported whistleblowers back into work?

One of the recommendations of Robert Francis’s Freedom to Speak Up review is that Monitor, NHS England and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) jointly devise and implement a support scheme for people who are having trouble finding new employment in the NHS as a result of blowing the whistle.

Have you supported any whistleblowers who have lost their job to get back into permanent employment or a work placement?

If so, or if you would like to know more about our plans, please email Tom Grimes, Monitor’s Head of Enquiries, Complaints and Whistleblowing: [email protected].

1.8 What do you think of Monitor’s strategy development programme?

We would like to hear from directors of strategy, chief executives, finance directors and chairs of foundation trusts who have used our strategy development toolkit and/or board guide.

We are in the process of planning how we can support you with strategy development before the next planning round, and your feedback will help inform our next steps and contribute to a collection of good practice case studies we are developing.

We are particularly keen to hear:

• if you have used the toolkit or board guide to develop a strategy in your trust and the impact that it’s had
• how you have engaged patients in developing your service line or organisational strategies
• what further resources or modifications you would find useful to help you in planning more widely across a local health and care economy

Please email your feedback to [email protected].

2. For information

2.1 Five Year Forward View - The Success Regime: A whole systems intervention

The Forward View signalled the intention by the national bodies to introduce a new regime to create the conditions for success in the most challenged health and care economies. The ‘Success Regime’ is aimed at providing increased support and direction to the most challenged systems in order to secure improvement in 3 main areas:

• short-term improvement against agreed quality, performance or financial metrics
• medium and longer-term transformation, including the application of new care models where applicable
• developing leadership capacity and capability across the health system

2.2 Performance of the foundation trust sector, Q4 2014/15

The final performance report for 2014/15 shows that foundation trusts are treating more patients than ever before and that this unprecedented demand has prevented the sector as a whole from meeting national waiting times standards. As a result of considerable financial pressure, the sector has also ended the year in deficit for the first time.

2.3 Mutually Agreed Resignation (MAR) or Voluntary Severance (VS) schemes

Foundation trusts no longer require explicit authorisation from HM Treasury (HMT) to run a MAR / VS scheme and now have the delegated authority to implement local MAR schemes within the 2015/16 financial year. Find out more about this and the conditions this change is subject to.

2.4 Interested in finding out more about the 2016/17 national tariff?

You can now watch a recording of last week’s webinar on the 2016/17 national tariff. Hear from Monitor and NHS England about the work that has been undertaken so far, and how and when you will be able to comment on the proposals.

3. Events

3.1 Monitor and NHS Providers Executive Director Induction Programme

11-12 June 2015, London

Who is it for?

Newly appointed executive directors

Why attend?

This interactive programme will give you a clear understanding of your role as part of a unitary board and of the wider context within which your role is set.

On the day, you will:

• gain a better understanding of the developing NHS environment and what it means for the leadership of foundation trusts, governance, NHS finance, and the regulatory context
• get information that will help you with your role specifically within the foundation trust sector

Please note that this is a day and a half programme and participants are required to attend on both days.

To book your place, visit NHS Providers’ website (log-in required).

3.2 Board Induction Day

25 June 2015, London

Who is it for?

Newly appointed chairs and chief executives of NHS foundation trusts who have not had prior experience of Monitor’s authorisation process.

Why attend?

To meet with our development team and find out about our role as well as foundation trust governance and regulation.

On the day:

• learn about Monitor’s role, including an overview of pricing and co-operation and competition
• find out what the NHS foundation trust legal framework looks like
• explore the regulatory regime, including the risk assessment framework and enforcement processes
• learn about quality and quality governance
• learn about foundation trust governance, including working effectively with governors
• hear about current issues in the NHS

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis to chairs or chief executives of foundation trusts.

To enquire about a place or to be kept informed of future dates, please email [email protected].

3.3 Health and Care Innovation Expo 2015

2-3 September 2015, Manchester

Who is it for?

Chief executives and chairs

Why attend?

To take part in a challenging event which will deal in reality not theory, and which is designed to scrutinise early evidence from 5 months of work initiated by the Five Year Forward View. By September, there will be some real progress to show from the early adopters and pilot sites that have embraced this challenge and are already making a difference to patients. Across the programme you will have the opportunity to attend the unique pop-up university, offering more than 100 engaging workshops, and delivered by high profile professionals in health and social care.

Workshops confirmed so far include:

• ‘Breaking the Cycle’ week: how social movements have improved emergency flow and patient safety in acute hospitals
• Advancing transformational change using collaboration, networks and systems thinking – an interactive and practical session on the work of NHS Improving Quality with health and care systems advancing transformational change
• Evidence based innovation? Five steps to combine inspiration and data in your work

To claim 2 free tickets (for chief executives and chairs from every foundation trust), please email [email protected].

For more information, and to purchase tickets with early bird and group discount offers for your colleagues, please visit www.england.nhs.uk/expo/.

4. Get in touch

4.1 Our latest job opportunities

For more information or to apply, please visit our recruitment website joinmonitor.com.

4.2 Queries or feedback

If you have any queries about the information in this bulletin, please contact your relationship manager at Monitor.

4.3 News alerts

You can subscribe to Monitor’s news update service and receive relevant information direct to your inbox.

4.4 Publications

All of our publications are available to download from our publications section.