NHS foundation trusts: submitting annual reports and accounts
Each year, you must submit your annual report and accounts to Monitor and lay them before Parliament.
Applies to England
What to include in your annual report and accounts:
- your annual report (including the quality report: a report on the quality of care you provide)
- your accounting officer’s statement of responsibilities
- your auditor’s opinion and certificate
- an annual governance statement
- a foreword to your accounts
- 4 primary financial statements
- notes to the accounts
NHS foundation trusts may also be required to make accounts submissions earlier in the year, for example month 9. Any requirement to do so will be communicated to foundation trusts by post, as described on the financial accounting guidance page.
You can find full details, including the deadlines and submission process, in the (FT ARM).
Create and submit quality reports and quality accounts
You must include a quality report as part of your annual report.
These are designed to encourage you to:
- focus on quality improvement
- work with clinicians and patients
The requirements for foundation trusts’ 2014/15 quality reports explains what you need to include. The changes from the 2013/14 arrangements are minor and can be found in the section Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities. We’ve also clarified that the disclosure of referral to treatment performance indicators in the quality report should be based on the average for the year.
You should read the guidance for NHS foundation trusts and their auditors on how external assurance should be provided on the quality reports. Section 1.3 of the guidance explains the important changes compared to 2013/14.
Contact the annual reports and accounts team
You can email FT.Accounts@monitor.gov.uk if you have any problems using the reporting templates or any other questions.
More information
You should also check Monitor’s financial accounting guidance page regularly for updates on year-end accounts, the foundation trust consolidation (FTC) process and the agreement of balances process.
In-year reporting
Information on in-year reporting is available here.
Annual plans
Information on how to prepare and submit your foundation trust’s annual plans is available here.