NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is to provide a new national finance service to NHS England.
They have agreed on a contract to run until at least 2031 and valued at over £100 million that will involve NHS SBS providing the next generation of the Integrated Single Financial Environment (ISFE) to process around £155 billion every year.
It has developed the cloud based system to build on the existing ISFE service, which it has provided since 2012.
The new version is scheduled to go live in April 2024.
NHS SBS – a partnership between the Department for Health and Social Care and Sopra Steria – said the benefits of the new system will include real time and snapshot reporting for informed decision making, alongside automatic data validation checks to enhance accuracy.
It also emphasised its future importance in supporting integrated care boards.
Using software-as-a-service technology, the platform will be automatically patched and upgraded.
Step forward
Erika Bannerman, managing director of NHS SBS, said: "Moving towards a unified service and platform for NHS trusts and commissioners is a huge step forward in achieving the vision we share with NHS England of 'one NHS finance system'.
"The new service is not just a continuation of what came before. At its heart is a single, scalable, integrated, cloud based finance platform, which is designed by the NHS for the NHS. Meeting the health system's current and future needs, it enables collaboration at local, regional and national levels, and drives effectiveness, efficiency, continuous improvement and best practice."
