#PracticeMatters blog: How the GPS team ensures we are following best practice
This month we’re looking at #PracticeMatters. To introduce this topic, Anne Toone, Associate Director of Governance and Sustainability discusses her role and how her newly formed team work to ensure the organisation is following best practice.
The new financial year is almost upon us, and for us that marks the start of the second year of the NHS Supply Chain: Facilities and Office Solutions contract. My role was created as part of the new Category Management Service Provider contract in recognition that the centralisation of policy and governance functions would enable us to better manage our contractual obligations and ensure our organisation remains a healthy and safe environment for our staff.
Making sure we have appropriate policies and procedures in place that are regularly reviewed, and that staff adhere to best practice is a key responsibility for myself and my team, as well as undertaking audits and acting upon the feedback, which ensures we remain compliant.
Ensuring our organisation is proactive in implementing and managing all of our policies and procedures and managing risk is the best way we can exemplify best practice. We are constantly evolving and learning to ensure we adhere to best practice. Managing our internal and external stakeholder relationships effectively to ensure we meet or exceed our contractual obligations is integral to our role as a CMSP; and this is something we do well as we continually monitor and report our progress.
Integrity is a core value at the heart of our organisation and integrity is key to everything the Governance and Performance team do. Without it we would be risking the wellbeing of the wider team and putting the board at risk of non-compliance. We are the guardianship of quality and safety, and we have that at the forefront of our minds in all that we do within the organisation. Where risks and issues are identified it is essential that we act upon any mitigation or lesson learnt to retain that integrity.
As governance, responsibility and accountability sit across the CMSP and NOE CPC we need to ensure we remain aligned and work together. For example, we manage our Quality Committee with representation from across the organisation. Our training offer is rolled out across the organisation to ensure we drive consistency and best practice. A number of new roles have been created to ensure we have the right balance of skills and evidences the importance the organisation places on governance and performance.
The Governance, Performance and Sustainability team is fairly new, and brings together a wide range of previously standalone business functions and policy areas, this presents the opportunity to review how we deliver our services. Going forward, I see the team being much more proactive in what we do and being fully aligned to other business areas and the objectives across the organisation. The aim will be to streamline and create processes wherever we can to allow the other functions greater focus on delivering their core activity.