Correspondence

FT Bulletin 15 July 2015

Published 15 July 2015

Applies to England

1. For action

1.1 Have your say on changes to the NHS foundation trust annual reporting manual

Thanks to those of you who have submitted your annual reports. We will publish your individual reports on our website during the summer.

We are now consulting on changes to the annual reporting manual for 2015/16. Please submit any feedback by 5pm, Friday 31 July.

1.2 New process for very senior manager (VSM) pay

Chairs received a letter from the Secretary of State last month, requesting you to seek the views of ministers before making appointments to boards/executive boards where the salary is higher than the Prime Minister’s. To comply with this request, you can complete this Department of Health (DH) form. Compliance is voluntary if your foundation trust has not received ‘distressed finance’.

Please note the DH has indicated that:

• medical directors should be included but other consultants who are not board members don’t need to be
• staff who are not board members, but are on the same terms as non-medical board members, should be included

To return your form, or if you have any questions, please email Pauline Fleck (Pauline.Fleck@dh.gsi.gov.uk) at DH.

Please note before returning your form to DH, you do not need to answer the question ‘is your application supported by Monitor?’

1.3 Have you signed up to safety?

Sign up to Safety is a patient safety campaign and one of several national initiatives helping the NHS to improve the safety of patient care. The campaign has been running for over a year and 4 out of 5 foundation trusts have signed up to make their safety pledges. Have you? If not, sign up now to share your knowledge and experiences.

1.4 Chief nurses and chief executives: how are you implementing revalidation?

We wrote to you last month to find out how your foundation trust is planning to implement revalidation for nurses and midwives.

Thanks to those of you who have sent us your plans for us to share with national partners. Our Nurse Director, Ruth May, is still taking responses; you can email her your plans at clinicalengagement@monitor.gov.uk until 31 July.

For those of you who are still in the process of reviewing your implementation plans, these questions may help you. The Nursing and Midwifery Council has also issued new guidance to help employers with implementation.

2. Events

2.1 Health and Care Innovation Expo 2015

2-3 September 2015, Manchester

Who is it for?

Executive and non-executive directors.

Why attend?

Hear how early adopters and pilot sites are working towards the vision set out in the Five Year Forward View and making a difference to patients. Also find out about how we and our partners are supporting providers and encouraging innovative ways of working in our sessions across the programme, including:

• developing cultures to deliver value (with Suzie Bailey, Development Director at Monitor)
• involving patients in outcomes based commissioning in community services
• managing conflicts of interest (for commissioners)

We are also working with our partners, NHS TDA and NHS Providers, to run 2 sessions focusing on how we will support the sector to address financial challenges, and how together we are supporting local innovation through new care models.

There are still some free tickets for the event. To claim yours, fill in the online form and use the code PROVEXP1 if you are a chair or chief executive, or PROVEXP2 for all other roles.

Find out more and book your place on the Expo website.

3. External updates

3.1 HM Treasury (HMT) approval of special severance cases

HMT would like to remind you that you need to seek their approval for any non-contractual payments made to settle employment disputes and employment tribunals, unless the payment has been ordered by a tribunal or court. Please also seek HMT approval before any offers, whether oral or in writing are made. All requests should be made in plenty of time before a hearing.

HMT’s guidance Managing Public Money (see paragraph A4.13.11), is designed to help you with the process.

3.2 Updates on the NHS procurement and efficiency programme

DH published the latest updates for NHS procurement staff on the Centre for Procurement Efficiency portal on 2 July 2015.

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.