By Nick Heath, 1 December 2008 17:10
NEWS
An NHS spin off company has won a £13.8m outsourcing deal to provide payroll services to 12 health bodies.
NHS Shared Business Services (SBS), a joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, will provide finance, accounting and payroll business process outsourcing services for the organisations.
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NHS SBS already provides similar services for more than 100 NHS groups.
The joint venture will see health bodies able to share technology, financial controls and best practice.
Leicestershire Partnership Trust (LPT) is one of the latest groups to move to NHS SBS as their payroll provider.
Tony Burnell, director of people and transformation at LPT, said in a statement: "NHS SBS have the knowledge and capability to supply a first class payroll system."
Comments
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1. Dr. Paul Whatling, Director of International Healthcare Consulting at Perot Systems
During an economic downturn many companies will focus on the cost saving objectives of outsourcing contracts, so it’s refreshing to read about a deal that has incorporated and considered the technological benefits.
We’re witnessing an increasing trend towards outsourcing back-office activities such as admin and finance, as this enables companies to focus resource and budget on their core business.
There’s no denying that this venture will streamline and reduce the costs of revenue management and administration, which will free up resource and ensure the NHS is better positioned to address some of the more immediate issues at Trust level.
Our experience in the outsourcing of payment, coding, billing and revenue cycle management shows that, if coupled with the right levels of operational process change and management, health providers may make substantial cash savings (or revenue gains) through implementation of such services. As we move towards an increasing level of commissioned services in the NHS the potential returns from such outsourcing makes this an area to watch closely over the coming months and years.