As the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were due to disband before 1st April, it had become a complicated and problematic task to count up and separate the IT assets that they once owned.
There is a growing awareness across the NHS in England & Wales that the only way to impose control over the key asset base is to replace current disparate systems with a single, integrated asset register that not only holds the capital asset information for the finance team but also addresses the requirements of each department.
Had this been the case within the current PCTs, transferring and assimilating current assets would currently be a much simpler, less time-consuming task in progress.
By moving the NHS’ disparate sources of, often duplicated, asset information to a single, consolidated asset register, Trusts are minimising the risk of litigation, improving service levels both internally and for external customers and, critically, delivering the cost savings required to meet the forthcoming years of stringent financial control.
Part of the Transfer Documentation Guidance that was issued to the PCTs states that they must:
- identify all of their IT assets and liabilities;
- identify the legal owner of the relevant asset or liability;
- identify any third-party rights or interests in an asset or liability; and
- nominate a recipient (or transferee) of the asset or liability prior to dissolution of the SHA or PCT.
In light of this, it is imperative that future NHS organisations invest in one efficient system to help them monitor and maintain their extremely large asset base. This is particularly poignant when previously NHS Trusts have come under increasing pressure to improve the management of several £100m of assets, from medical equipment onwards, in order to reduce spiralling litigation claims and deliver far greater accountability.
And now, as the NHS faces a period of significant change, it is becoming ever more critical to impose control over asset management to improve performance, maximise resource utilisation and minimise mistakes.