Item 8 - Sheffield Health and Social Care

This report, including the conclusion, has beenprepared solely for the Council of Governors ofSheffield Health and Social Care NHS FoundationTrust as a body, to assist the Council of Governorsin reporting Sheffield Health and Social Care NHSFoundation Trust’s quality agenda, performanceand activities. We permit the disclosure of thisreport within the Annual Report for the yearended 31 March 2013, to enable the Council ofGovernors to demonstrate they have dischargedtheir governance responsibilities by commissioningan independent assurance report in connection withthe indicators. To the fullest extent permitted by law,we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyoneother than the Council of Governors as a body andSheffield Health and Social Care NHS FoundationTrust for our work or this report save where termsare expressly agreed and with ourprior consent in writing.Assurance work performedWe conducted this limited assuranceengagement in accordance with InternationalStandard on Assurance Engagements 3000(Revised) – ‘Assurance Engagements otherthan Audits or Reviews of Historical FinancialInformation’ issued by the International Auditingand Assurance Standards Board (‘ISAE 3000’).Our limited assurance procedures included:• Evaluating the design and implementation ofthe key processes and controls for managingand reporting the indicators• Making enquiries of management• Testing key management controls• Limited testing, on a selective basis, of thedata used to calculate the indicator back tosupporting documentation• Comparing the content requirements of theNHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manualto the categories reported in the Quality Report• Reading the documents.A limited assurance engagement is smaller inscope than a reasonable assurance engagement.The nature, timing and extent of proceduresfor gathering sufficient appropriate evidenceare deliberately limited relative to a reasonableassurance engagement.LimitationsNon-financial performance information is subject tomore inherent limitations than financial information,given the characteristics of the subject matter andthe methods used for determining such information.The absence of a significant body of establishedpractice on which to draw allows for the selectionof different but acceptable measurementtechniques which can result in materially differentmeasurements and can impact comparability. Theprecision of different measurement techniques mayalso vary. Furthermore, the nature and methodsused to determine such information, as well as themeasurement criteria and the precision thereof, maychange over time. It is important to read the QualityReport in the context of the criteria set out in theNHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual.The scope of our assurance work has not includedgovernance over quality or non-mandated indicatorswhich have been determined locally by SheffieldHealth and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust.ConclusionBased on the results of our procedures, nothing hascome to our attention that causes us to believe that,for the year ended 31 March 2013:• The Quality Report is not prepared in all materialrespects in line with the criteria set out in theNHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual;• The Quality Report is not consistent in allmaterial respects with the sources specifiedin section 2.1 of Monitor’s 2012/13 DetailedGuidance for External Assurance on QualityReports; and• The indicators in the Quality Report subject tolimited assurance have not been reasonably statedin all material respects in accordance with the NHSFoundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual.KPMG LLP, Statutory AuditorLeeds29th May 2013SECTION 12.0Rivelin Boardroom at Fulwood HouseStatement of AccountingOfficer’s Responsibilities133134