AH ANNUAL REPORT 2018

during the winter months to operationalise the Trust’s
robust Winter Plan, which had been devised this
year to flex capacity during weeks in which seasonal
illnesses had been predicted to reach their peak,
thereby minimising the number of cancelled elective
procedures. These operational processes contribute to
the Trust’s control environment and provide assurance
to the Board that performance risks are understood
and fully mitigated where they are within the Trust’s
locus of control.
The Board’s assurance system is underpinned by the
work of the Trust’s internal auditors which is overseen
by the Audit Committee. Each year the Committee
agrees an audit programme which aims to focus on
areas of weakness or potential risk in internal control
and make recommendations to address deficits
where these are identified. The Audit Committee
retains a database of remedial actions agreed as
a result of audits and these are followed up by the
Committee until completed. During the last 12 months
the Committee chair has retained a strong focus on
the processes around the monitoring of internal audit
recommendations and the provision of regular reports
both from lead officers and internal audit, to ensure
that any areas of limited assurance are followed up and
relevant action taken.
A range of specific initiatives to improve the use of
resources were in place during 2017/18, including:
• Continued development of the InfoFox Business
Intelligence Self-service Portal which provides
interactive dashboards reporting finance, quality
and operational performance information. Reporting
enhanced and now includes real time daily activity
reporting and forward look with drill through to
outpatient and theatre productivity to ensure contract
activity plans achieved and capacity utilised.
• Enhanced materials management stock control
continued in the new hospital with demonstrable
reduction to stockholding.
• Procurement strategy agreed aimed at delivering
best in class purchasing, and service to our clinical
services at best price, including comprehensive
Divisional spend analysis and dedicated Category
Manager support to encourage VFM ideas and
solutions from the shop floor.
• Building on a first of its kind ‘Procurement
Symposium’ event in which Alder Hey brought
together a roomful of its key suppliers to work on joint
solutions to the challenges of securing best value for
patients, a Top 20 Supplier Strategy was produced
and progressed.
• Continued development of service line reporting and
patient level costing information with specialty teams
resulting in increased clinical engagement in costing
and performance improvement.
• Using the service line reporting and patient level
costing information we have developed projects which
will help Alder Hey achieve its operational priorities.
These projects assess the financial benefit and the
patient impact together and management are able to
prioritise the ideas with the greatest benefits first.
• Development of a workforce sustainability plan
which further builds on the enhanced systems and
processes to support the compliance with national
rules regarding the management and control of
agency staff costs and framework agreements.
• Extensive recruitment to clinical roles to reduce the
reliance on temporary staffing
INFORMATION GOVERNANCE
The Trust has an Information Governance Framework
that incorporates an on-going programme of work
to ensure that data held is handled appropriately
and securely and any risks within the Information
Governance remit are managed and controlled. This
incorporates completion of the annual Information
Governance Toolkit assessment which is overseen
by the Information Governance Steering Group and
is subject to internal and external review. The Trust’s
compliance with the Toolkit has been assessed as 76%
for 2017/18, which is ‘satisfactory’. The annual internal
audit review of fifteen IG toolkit elements resulted
in ‘significant assurance’. The Trust had no serious
incidents relating to Information Governance during the
period. During the year, work has continued within the
Trust to prepare for the introduction of the General Data
Protection Regulations (GDPR) which will reform Data
Protection legislation and will apply in the UK from 25th
May 2018.
Alder Hey was not affected by the cyber attack on
the NHS which took place in May 2017; however the
Trust continues to be vigilant and highly focused upon
safeguarding its information systems via robust cyber
security measures. These measures were also subject
to testing via an internal audit during the year, which
received a rating of ‘significant assurance.’
ANNUAL QUALITY REPORT
The directors are required under the Health Act 2009
and the National Health Service (Quality Accounts)
Regulations 2010 (as amended) to prepare Quality
Accounts for each financial year. NHS Improvement
(in exercise of the powers conferred on Monitor) has
issued guidance to NHS foundation trust boards on
the form and content of annual Quality Reports which
incorporate the above legal requirements in the NHS
Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual.
The Medical Director and Chief Nurse are jointly
responsible at Board level for leading the quality
agenda within the Trust, supported by the Director of
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 77
Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18