PCT Network and HFMA Financial Directors Group 

Supplementary Fee Scale Consultation 2009/10 – National Duplicate Registration Initiative

Following discussions with the Department of Health, the Audit Commission proposes to re-run the National Duplicate Registration Initiative (NDRI) as part of the statutory audit in 2009/10. The Audit Commission therefore proposes to charge each PCT a supplementary audit fee of £3,500.

Before prescribing any scales of fees, the Commission consults audited bodies in the NHS and their representative associations, the Department of Health and the accountancy profession. We are therefore consulting you on the Audit Commission’s plans and the associated supplementary scale of fees as part of our statutory duty under Section 7 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 to prescribe scales of fees for the audit of accounts.

The NDRI, which was undertaken in 1999 and 2004, uses advanced data matching techniques to review GPs’ patient lists to identify inaccuracies in the data that distort both the wider resource allocation within the NHS, and specifically payments made to GPs.

In December 2008, the Commission was asked by NHS Connecting for Health to consider undertaking NDRI again. As part of the National Programme for IT there have been significant changes to the system since NDRI 2004. In particular, considerable progress had been made on the replacement of the existing system for GP registrations, National Health Applications and Infrastructure Services, with the new Patient Demographic System (PDS).

Following discussions with both Connecting for Health and the Department of Health the Commission agreed that it is the right time to repeat the NDRI. As well as providing the Commission’s appointed auditors with assurance that payments to GPs are based on accurate patient list information, the initiative will establish whether the issues identified in NDRI 2004 have been addressed, and if the move to the PDS has weakened internal controls.

Comments on this proposal can be sent directly to the Audit Commission at ndriqueries@audit-commission.gov.uk.

You can also send your comments to PCT Network by contacting Martin Panther at martin.panther@nhsconfed.org by 23 September 2009.

PbR data assurance framework consultation 2010/11 onwards

The Audit Commission has launched its consultation on the Payment by Results (PbR) data assurance framework for 2010/11 onwards. In 2009/10 the programme will have been running for three years and the Commission is committed to reviewing its approach for subsequent years. 

The framework reviews the quality of key data which underpins payments within the NHS in England and provides assurance of sufficient data quality for PbR to function robustly.

The Commission is proposing a more risk-based approach from 2010/11 onwards and that reviews should be targeted on local issues and priorities with a greater appreciation of local knowledge, information and management arrangements. The audits should be integrated, cover more data items and provide wider assurance over the quality of other data without placing unnecessary burdens on provider organisations. The Commission is also proposing that primary care trusts should be central to determining risks and the local audit programme. However, to ensure that the Commission is providing national assurance over data quality, it will also propose that over a three-year period all providers will be subject to nationally focused data assurance reviews on activity data covered by PbR.

To help with the consultation process, the Commission is planning to hold the following half-day consultation workshops.

• 25 September  - London

Further details and information on these workshops will be released in due course.

If you have any enquiries about this consultation, please contact Peter Saunders, Head of PbR Assurance, p-saunders@audit-commission.gov.uk, telephone 0844 798 1193.

You can also forward your comments on this issue to the PCT Network to Martin Panther at martin.panther@nhsconfed.org by 23 September 2009.

Meetings

The first meeting took place at the BMA House on 16 September chaired by Gill Scoular. The meeting included speakers to include David Stout, Director of PCT Network, Janet Perry, NHS Finance Controller  Elaine Taylor-Whilde and Jim Waldron from the NHS Information Centre. The meeting was a success and the group have agreed to meet quarterly.

Previous meetings

• 3 March 2009
• 26 June 2009
• 21 September 2009

Future meetings

• 4 December 2009 29 Bresseden Place, London
• 5 March 2010, 29 Bresseden Place, London

The group has 2 nominated representatives from each SHA region. See below for representatives in your region.