NHS trusts

The NHS Act 2006 break-even duty and the annual efficiency requirement in NHS England’s planning guidance sit at odds with the Procurement Act 2023 duty to pay on time and the Better Payment Practice Code, with finance directors now having to sign off six-monthly payment compliance notices under s69.

Rules that essentially mean you have two seemingly conflicting duties: to deliver your cost improvement programme and to pay 95% of invoices within 30 days. In reality, paying on time wins because it’s the easiest to measure.

Volume discounts are where it hurts most. A trust signs a deal for surgical gloves with volume discounts, but the gloves are delivered to a dozen sites across the trust, each order is invoiced on its own, and the discount tier is never triggered. Add to that invoices that contradict the agreed catalogue price, consumables still charged at list price after the tier was reached, annual price increases applied despite the contract saying fixed price, year-end rebates never claimed, and many other mischarges slip through the net.

Across tens of thousands of invoices, this can add up to 3% or more of annual non-pay spend.

Until now, these contract slippages have been impossible to find before the spend happens.

Strata Contract Assurance catches overcharges before the payment leaves your account, sits on top of your existing accounts payable processes, whether in-house or with NHS Shared Business Services, and ensures the savings in your cost improvement programme are real. It adds up deliveries across every site and cost centre so volume discounts and rebates land on the invoice. At the same time, dispute packs and pay less notices are auto-generated for your AP team to send out, all the while ensuring clean and compliant invoices are paid rapidly and your Better Payment Practice Code score holds. Six-monthly s69 reports are auto-generated.