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Briefing / Summary of NHS operational planning and contracting guidance 2024/25

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NHS England published a pack of operational planning and contracting guidance on 27 March 2024. Integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner trusts must work with wider system partners and use this guidance to develop their system plans.

This briefing pulls out key points from all documents within the operational planning and contracting guidance pack, as relevant to NHS finance staff. It is not comprehensive and the full guidance should be referred to for greater detail.

Introduction

NHS England published a pack of operational planning and contracting guidance on 27 March 2024. Integrated care boards (ICBs) and their partner trusts must work with wider system partners and use this guidance to develop their system plans. 

• Priorities and operational planning guidance NHS England, Priorities and operational planning guidance 2024/25, March 2024   Document detailing national priorities for the NHS in 2024/25 and how ICBs and providers should incorporate these priorities into their plans
• Revenue finance and contracting guidance NHS England, Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2024/25, March 2024   Guidance setting out financial expectations on NHS organisations
• Elective Recovery Fund technical guidance NHS England, Elective Recovery Fund technical guidance 2024/25, March 2024   Guidance on how the Elective Recovery Fund (ERF) will operate in 2024/25
• Capital guidance NHS England, NHS capital guidance for 2024/25, March 2024   Document detailing NHS capital allocations for 2024/25

2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance

The overall priority for the NHS in 2024/25 is to recover core services and productivity following the Covid-19 pandemic. The planning guidance acknowledges that this is a major challenge, which will take several years. In terms of the resources available, the spring Budget 2024 included £2.45bn of extra funding for the NHS in 2024/25, which is intended to cover the recurrent cost of the 2023/24 pay deal, with NHS funding otherwise being held flat. 

As in 2023/24, finance is considered at a system level. ICBs, trusts and primary care providers are asked to work together to plan to deliver a net financial position which is balanced across the system. They should involve wider system partners as they decide how to balance various national and local priorities. 

The focus on recovery is the same as in the previous year’s planning guidance. Within this, there is however now a sharper focus on productivity, and on how the NHS can be a better and more responsive employer.

Nationally, the NHS continues to prioritise the recovery of core services – in particular, elective care, urgent and emergency care, NHS dentistry and access to primary care. The most significant financial mechanisms to support recovery are the same as those used in 2023/24. The Elective Recovery Fund (ERF) continues into 2024/25, and the Better Care Fund is being used to shift activity to settings outside acute hospitals.

To help recovery, systems are asked to maintain their bed numbers for general and acute care in 2024/25 at the same level funded and agreed through operating plans in 2023/24. 

New in the 2024/25 planning guidance, NHS England is promoting NHS IMPACT ,  NHS England launched NHS IMPACT (Improving Patient Care Together) in April 2023, as a new national approach to improvement. NHS IMPACT is helping systems to develop the right conditions for continuous improvement and leading on a small number of national programmes which focus on patient flow.  its national approach to improvement, as a way of driving recovery.

Productivity

Previous planning guidance has prioritised productivity, but there is a sharper focus on it in 2024/25, with clearer expectations on systems.

NHS England expects all acute trusts to recover their productivity towards pre-pandemic levels (adjusted for structural factors, casemix changes and uncaptured activity). It asks ICBs to work with acute trusts to analyse their productivity compared to that in 2019/20 and put in place improvement plans. It also asks systems to review their workforce establishment against 2019/20, justify any increases (for instance based on outcomes, safety, quality or new service models) and put in place plans to improve workforce productivity.

Nationally, NHS England will start reporting on productivity metrics in the second half of 2024/25. This will go down to an ICB and trust level to enable systems to benchmark their performance. The core metrics will include:

• measures of overall productivity at trust level
• measures of operational and clinical productivity (such as the no criteria to reside rate, capped theatre utilisation, the diagnostic utilisation rate and turnaround time)
• measures of workforce productivity (such as outpatient appointments per consultant, care hours per patient day, bank and agency spend as a proportion of pay costs)
• measures of efficiency (such as on delivery of the opportunity for medicines optimisation).

As in previous years, the planning guidance includes a target on temporary staffing, though this year it has been elevated such that it’s included as one of the national objectives. NHS England asks systems to reduce their agency spend to a maximum of 3.2% of the total pay bill across 2024/25 (compared to a target of 3.7% in 2023/24). It also expects trusts to end their use of off-framework agencies by July 2024, and stipulates that any use of off-framework agencies before this point should be signed off by the chief executive or a designated deputy. 

Supporting the NHS workforce

In 2024/25, the planning guidance has a much stronger focus on workforce than in previous years. It stresses the importance of improving staff experience, retention and attendance, saying ‘the evidence is clear that improving staff engagement will help to improve patient outcomes and safety’. 

This is an area which is still under development, with more policies and guidance likely to follow within the next 12 months and in the coming years. The planning guidance sets out some specific requirements, but describes these as ‘the floor, rather than the ceiling, of our collective ambition to be a better and more responsive employer’. 

Specific requirements are that NHS employers:

• implement the new National pregnancy and baby loss people policy framework NHS England, National pregnancy and baby loss people policy framework, March 2024  
• implement the NHS sexual safety charter NHS England, Sexual safety in healthcare – organisational charter, September 2023  
• implement the actions and best practice available through the retention hub NHS England, Looking after our people – retention hub  
• embed the NHS equality, diversity and inclusion improvement plan NHS England, NHS equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) improvement plan, June 2023  
• align their training with the Core skills training framework Health Education England, Core skills training framework (England), June 2021  
• implement the Growing occupational health and wellbeing together strategy NHS England, Growing occupational health and wellbeing together strategy  
• provide work schedules in advance, with compassionate on-call rostering and leave request management.

Detailed priorities, targets and actions

Beyond the key themes of recovery, productivity and supporting the workforce, the planning guidance explains the actions that systems should take to support a more detailed set of national objectives. 

Table 1 lists the national objectives and explains where they are different to those used in 2023/24. The page numbers refer to the Priorities and operational planning guidance 2024/25 , NHS England, Priorities and operational planning guidance 2024/25, March 2024 signposting systems to full details on the actions they should take. Even where there is no change to the wording of the objective, there may be additional actions included within the detail of the planning guidance.

There are two segments which instruct systems on the actions they should take, but which do not tie directly back to any of the national objectives listed in table 1 . These are on digital and data (page 30) and system working (page 34).

In terms of finance, a segment on use of resources (page 31) explains where NHS England expects systems to find the greatest efficiency savings. It calls on systems to:

• reduce unwarranted variation in the cost of continuing healthcare placements
• optimise medicine value (by reviewing prescribing trend data each month, increasing the use of generics and biosimilars, and delivering against the national medicines optimisation opportunities)
• reduce the cost of running corporate services
• procure energy through a new national contract developed with Crown Commercial Services
• use the consolidated supplier frameworks agreed through NHS Supply Chain and procure from frameworks operated by an accredited framework host.

Some of the national objectives from 2023/24 are no longer included in the 2024/25 guidance. For example, there are no longer objectives on bed occupancy, the number of general practice appointments, or the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) for primary care. 

Table 1: Comparing the 2024/25 national objectives to 2023/24

Revenue finance and contracting guidance.

The business rules in the NHS financial framework   NHS England, NHS financial framework: integrated care board and system finance business rules, January 2023 have not changed since 2023/24 (see Table 2 ). This means that systems remain the key unit for financial planning purposes. 

Each system will need to map the financial position of their ICB and trusts into their system plans. Separately, trusts are also asked to submit organisational financial plans to NHS England, and it is important that these match up to the plans submitted at a system level.

2024/25 is the first year that some systems will be making repayments on overspends from previous years. After overspending, systems are given two years to recover their finances before having to make repayments. Any system which overspent in 2022/23 will therefore start making repayments in 2024/25.

NHS England stresses that it does not expect widespread access to drawdown in 2024/25, and that systems should not assume access to drawdown unless NHS England has approved this in advance of the plan submission.

Table 2: ICB and system finance business rules

Icb revenue allocations.

NHS England has updated its ICB revenue allocations for 2024/25 . NHS England, 2024/25 allocation schedules, March 2024  These allocations have been adjusted since they were first released NHS England, Allocation of resources 2023/24 to 2024/25, January 2023  in January 2023. The revenue finance and contracting guidance explains the rationale behind each adjustment, and ICBs can see the precise impact on their allocations by consulting the revenue allocation schedules. 

Some key changes are that:

• The net cost uplift factor has reduced to 0.6% (originally expected to be 0.7%). This is made up of an estimated 1.7% inflation, netted off by a 1.1% general efficiency requirement (originally expected at 1.8% and 1.1%). Full details on the assumptions behind this calculation are set out in Annex D of the 2023/25 NHS payment scheme . NHS England, 23-25 NHS payment scheme - amended Annex D Prices and cost adjustments, March 2024 (see section 4 on ‘setting cost uplift and efficiency factors for 2024/25’)  
• Baseline adjustments have been made to include pay funding issued in 2023/24 on a recurrent basis, non-pay inflation as confirmed during 2023/24, and funding to cover the revenue impact of IFRS 16.
• Funding announced since the 2024/25 allocations were first released has been added in. This includes funding for ambulance services, urgent and emergency care capacity, and continued Covid-19 testing.
• Base growth has increased by 1.0% to reflect pressures since the original 2024/25 allocations were published, factoring in a revised growth domestic product (GDP) deflator.
• ICBs over their target allocation will move more slowly towards target, with convergence values scaled back to 80% of what was in the original allocations. The convergence value has not changed for ICBs that are under their target allocation. 

ICB running cost allowance

NHS England has previously announced that ICBs must reduce their running cost allowance by 30% in real terms by 2025/26, with at least 20% to be delivered in 2024/25. NHS England, Integrated care board running cost allowances: efficiency requirements, March 2023  This requirement still applies but is made more complicated by NHS England delegating services to ICBs. Separate to the planning guidance, NHS England will give ICBs an additional recurrent running cost allowance to reflect the 2023/24 transfer of staff. ICBs will then be held to account against their total running cost allowance (including delegated services). 

Service Development Fund (SDF) and Elective Recovery Fund (ERF)

SDF and ERF will both continue into 2024/25 in much the same format as in 2023/24. NHS England has streamlined the number of individual allocations it makes by bundling SDF categories together into high-level groupings. Several categories (including for mental health) are still ringfenced, with funding to be returned if it is underspent. Further details are available from NHS England, and each ICB should receive a separate schedule and technical guidance. On the ERF, NHS England has produced additional guidance, which is summarised on page 11 of this document. 

Delegation in 2024/25

Selected acute specialised services are being delegated to ICBs in the East of England, Midlands and North West regions from 1 April 2024. ICBs in other regions will work with NHS England through statutory joint commissioning arrangements, whereby regional commissioners submit their specialised commissioning plans at an ICB level, with approval from the relevant ICBs. (Statutory joint commissioning will also be used for specialised services which are out of scope for delegation in the East of England, Midlands and North West regions.)

NHS England introduced a new allocations methodology for specialised services in 2023/24 and has made further updates in 2024/25. A needs-based formula replaces the previous formula which was based on consumption of services, and convergence requirements mean that funding in some areas will be reduced such that ICBs move towards their fair share.

Arrangements for specialised high-cost drugs and high-cost devices will stay the same as in 2023/24 (even for ICBs where specialised commissioning has been delegated). Allocations will stay with NHS England, and NHS England will manage the reimbursement to trusts.

Future delegation

The revenue finance and contracting guidance refers to a number of services which will be commissioned by NHS England through 2024/25, but may be delegated in the future. These are:

• Specialised mental health, learning disability and autism services Phase 1 NHS-led provider collaboratives have now been set up. NHS England’s regional commissioning teams currently contract these services with lead providers, and they may be delegated to ICBs in 2025/26. 
• Public health services NHS England’s regional commissioning teams currently contract services that form part of the NHS public health functions (Section 7A) agreement. To help prepare for future delegation, the regional teams will produce 2024/25 financial plans for public health services at an ICB level.

Revenue support for capital

The government recently agreed additional revenue resources to support the NHS with depreciation and amortisation expenditure. Owned assets and leased right-of-use assets may be in scope for additional funding if, at a system level, the depreciation and amortisation on these assets exceeds a level set by NHS England. To claim this funding, systems will need to come together to plan their depreciation and amortisation expenditure.

As in previous years, New Hospital Programme (NHP) schemes are eligible for relief on public dividend capital (PDC) on their assets under construction, such that trusts will not pay PDC before the asset is operational. This is now being extended to a small number of schemes outside the NHP.

As in 2023/24, ICBs have been given dedicated revenue funding to contribute to the set up and running costs of community diagnostic centres. Further guidance will follow, but to pay trusts for this work, ICBs will need to submit a request to NHS England for a locally-agreed adjustment to the aligned payment and incentive (API) rules.

NHS payment scheme

A new version of the NHS payment scheme came into effect on 1 April 2024. NHS England, 2023-25 NHS payment scheme (amended), updated March 2024   Aside from updating prices for inflation and efficiency, the changes are relatively minor, and the key principles and payment mechanisms remain the same as in 2023/24. 

The NHS payment scheme applies to all secondary healthcare and give rules for four payment mechanisms: aligned payment and incentive (API), low volume activity (LVA), activity-based payments, and local payment arrangements.

Most healthcare provided by trusts will come under an API agreement, which includes both a fixed element and a variable element for elective activity. Appendix 1 of the Revenue finance and contracting guidance gives advice on how to calculate the fixed and variable elements. NHS England, Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2024/25, March 2024

As before, LVA arrangements will apply to most trust-ICB relationships with an expected annual value below £0.5m. To simplify the mechanism for delegated services, in 2024/25, ICBs should add the LVA value of delegated services onto existing LVA contracts so that a single payment can be made for all services. There will be a small number of exceptions to this, where NHS England considers delegated services to be of significant value and therefore better managed under API.

NHS England has decided to pause its nationally-mandated commissioning for quality and innovation (CQUIN) incentive scheme in 2024/25. Fixed payments should include the 1.25% funding previously identified for CQUIN as guaranteed income for providers.

Financial commitments and key assumptions

The revenue finance and contracting guidance sets out a number of financial commitments and key assumptions that it expects systems to make as part of their planning process. These are set out in Table 3 .

Table 3: Financial commitments and assumptions for planning

Elective recovery fund technical guidance.

NHS England is running the Elective Recovery Fund (ERF) in much the same way as in 2023/24, to make it as easy as possible to understand and apply in 2024/25.

There is £3.2bn of funding for ERF in 2024/25 (compared to £3.1bn in 2023/24). Nationally, the NHS is expected to use this to deliver 107% of the activity delivered in 2019/20 – the same level as in 2023/24 before NHS England adjusted for industrial action. Each commissioner will be set the same target as at the start of 2023/24.

The ERF will have the same funding flows between NHS England and ICBs. NHS England will hold back 18% of each ICB’s ERF allocation and release it when the ICB reaches the required levels of elective activity. It will also provide additional funding for any ICB that exceeds its overall target.

Providers will continue to be paid for the elective activity they deliver. Commissioners will pay providers at 100% of the prices in the 2023/25 NHS payment scheme , NHS England, 2023-25 NHS payment scheme (amended), updated March 2024 adjusted for market forces factor. The scope of activity that comes under ERF remains the same, as detailed in appendix 1 (page 9) of the guidance . NHS England, Elective Recovery Fund technical guidance 2024/25, March 2024

Changes to baseline

There are minimal changes to baselines. The baselines take 2019/20 value-weighted activity (as agreed for 2023/24) and adjust for the profile of working days in 2024/25. The activity is then valued using 2024/25 NHS payment scheme unit prices. 

For simplicity, low value activity relationships  ‘Low volume activity’ covers most provider/commissioner relationship with an annual value below £0.5m. Further details are included in the NHS payment scheme (footnote 19). are being removed from the ERF in 2024/25, which reduces ICB baselines by around 0.7%.

Changes to targets

There are minimal changes to targets. At a national and a commissioner level, the targets in 2024/25 are the same as at the start of 2023/24 (before later adjustments for industrial action).

NHS England will publish a detailed set of activity baselines and targets, which will break down what each individual provider is expected to deliver with each individual commissioner. Commissioners and providers can negotiate alternative targets, but the NHS England figures will be used as a default if they cannot agree.

One change in 2024/25 is that NHS England’s detailed, provider-level targets now reconcile fully to the overall commissioner targets. Any commissioner which agrees different targets with its providers must make sure that these agreements still add back to their overall commissioner target.

Changes for specialised commissioning

The most significant changes relate to specialised commissioning, as NHS England is delegating more of its specialised commissioning to ICBs in 2024/25.

NHS England is aiming to maintain the position for providers as much as possible, though different commissioners will be involved. In 2023/24, NHS England had one ERF agreement for specialised services with each relevant provider. In 2024/25, it is saying that for specialised services, each provider will have only one commissioner dealing with the variable ERF payments. 

Where specialised services have been delegated to an ICB, the ICB will make ERF agreements with all providers within its system for all the specialised services it delivers (including to patients from other ICBs). Where specialised services have not been delegated, NHS England make ERF agreements with providers as before. NHS England will also pay all specialist top-ups, even where specialised services are delegated. No ICB should make an ERF agreement with a provider outside of its system. Further details are included at Appendix 3 to the guidance (page 15). NHS England, Elective Recovery Fund technical guidance 2024/25, March 2024  

Capital guidance update

The NHS capital guidance 2022 to 2025 still applies, NHS England, NHS Capital guidance for 2022-25, April 2022  and this latest guidance is layered on top to give more detailed information for 2024/25. There is not yet any guidance on the next capital settlement, which relies on the next government spending review. There is therefore no certainty on funding or priorities beyond March 2025. As such, systems and providers are asked to submit one-year plans.

The total allocation across England is £8bn, as shown in Figure 1 . As in previous years, this is split into three categories: a system level allocation, national allocated funds and other national capital programme investments. This allocation excludes IFRS 16 adjustments, which will be added later in the planning process.

Figure 1: Capital allocations

System level allocation

The baseline allocations for ICBs’ operational capital have not changed since they were first set out in the 2022 to 2025 capital guidance. This makes up over 90% of the system level allocation.

Around 7% of the system level allocation will be distributed according to incentive schemes that have been announced and communicated to ICBs and providers previously:

• Finance incentive £150m incentive, to be shared among qualifying ICBs. ICBs qualify for a share if their system delivers a surplus, and a partial share if their system delivers on a deficit plan that has been agreed by NHS England.
• Urgent and emergency care incentives £150m incentive, to be shared among qualifying providers. Providers qualify for a share if they have a Type 1 A&E department, achieved 80% A&E four-hour performance from January to March 2024, and completed at least 90% of ambulance handovers within 30 minutes from October 2023 to March 2024. Providers will also be eligible for further funding up to £4m based on their A&E four-hour performance in March 2024.

Systems should factor the finance incentive into their capital plans based on their expected revenue outturn in 2023/24. They should not however factor in any payments for the urgent and emergency care incentives. NHS England will confirm these allocations at a later stage once the performance data is available.

The final part of the system level allocation goes on a small number of national operational capital programmes – for ambulance replacements, maternity neonatal cots and aseptic monitors. NHS England will apply uplifts to any payments which are due for these in 2024/25.

For the 2024/25 planning, NHS England will accept systems or regions over-programming by up to 5% of their operational capital allocation, so long as there is a clear plan that allows elements to be scaled back if necessary. 

Nationally allocated funds

The guidance does not signal any changes to the national capital programmes, targets, draw-down procedures or reporting requirements. One change is that the national estates team is working on a national capital reporting tool, which will help project teams to profile, forecast and report their spend. Once it is available, all estates schemes that are part of a national programme delivered through public dividend capital (PDC) will be asked to use this platform. 

Other national capital programme investments

The guidance focuses on diagnostics and technology transformation, but does not indicate any changes in targets or policy direction. Less funding is available in 2024/25 for integrated care systems to meet minimum digital foundations (a minimum of £400m compared to a minimum of £500m in 2023/24). This is for systems to develop their electronic patient records and scale up their use of digital social care records.

Treatment of IFRS16: Leases

Nationally, there is an £800m CDEL uplift to cover the impact of IFRS16 in 2024/25, which is in addition to the £8bn capital allocation outlined above. However, this will be added to system budgets later in the process. At plan stage, no IFRS 16 uplifts will be made to system operational capital allocations.

Systems and providers are asked to complete their planning returns on an IFRS16 compliant basis, using an IFRS16 uplift no more than 30% higher than in 2023/24. The design of the forms is such that the IFRS16 elements can easily be included or excluded for review. 

After the planning process, NHS England will add the IFRS16 uplifts to the operational capital allocations, and systems will need to manage their capital spend against their total operational capital allocation, including the impact of IFRS. Any overspends will be deducted from the 2025/26 capital allocations.

Other requirements

Beyond the ordinary course of reporting, the latest guidance explains specific circumstances when ICBs or providers should notify NHS England. These are set out below.

• If a system is unable to deliver by the end of March 2025 on the ambulance replacement, maternity neonatal cots or aseptic medicines programmes. (Notify NHS England capital and cash team as soon as possible.)
• If a system is planning a land and property disposal and intends to treat this as a CDEL credit over multiple years. (Notify NHS England by the month 6 submission at the latest.)
• If a provider recognises there is a risk of a PFI or LIFT project terminating due to default of the project co party. (Notify NHS England as soon as possible.)
• If a provider or ICB is anticipating a significant new lease and lease amendments within the scope of IFRS in 2024/25. (Discuss with NHS England regional finance teams as soon as possible.)

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The HFMA mental health conference is a learning and development event and is the largest face to face event for the HFMA Hub mental health network.

Creating a Business Plan

Welcome to the masterclass on creating an effective business plan tailored for the National Health Service (NHS). This masterclass is designed to provide you with essential guidance, best practices, and actionable insights to help you develop a robust and compelling business plan that aligns with NHS priorities and effectively addresses the needs of patients, staff, and other stakeholders.

Additionally, we will delve into research methodologies, stakeholder engagement strategies, and compliance with regulations and policies specific to the NHS. You will also learn valuable tips for presenting your business plan to NHS decision-makers and potential partners.

By the end of this masterclass, you will have a comprehensive understanding of how to create a well-structured and persuasive business plan that addresses the unique needs and priorities of the NHS, maximizes the value of your project, and enhances the delivery of patient care, operational efficiency, and staff well-being.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Clinical staff, Managers, Admin staff, Policy makers and Board members

KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand the importance of aligning your business plan with NHS priorities and the specific needs of patients, staff, and other stakeholders.

Master the process of crafting a compelling executive summary that effectively communicates the purpose, objectives, and benefits of your proposal.

Learn how to set clear, realistic, and measurable objectives that align with the NHS’s strategic aims and contribute to improved patient care and operational efficiency.

Gain insights into conducting thorough research and background analysis, including understanding relevant NHS policies, guidelines, and regulatory requirements.

Develop skills in creating a detailed service proposal, including the design and delivery of new services, interventions, or improvements that address the identified problem and meet the needs of your target patient population.

Acquire knowledge on how to perform a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, including identifying key stakeholders, understanding their needs and interests, and developing engagement strategies.

Learn how to estimate resource requirements, including staffing, equipment, and facilities, and conduct a cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate the value of your proposal to the NHS.

Understand the process of conducting a risk assessment and devising mitigation strategies to address potential challenges and uncertainties.

Develop financial forecasting skills, including the creation of revenue, expense, and return on investment projections, in line with NHS financial planning and reporting requirements.

Gain expertise in developing a realistic implementation plan with clear milestones, deliverables, and evaluation criteria, as well as effective presentation techniques for engaging NHS decision-makers and potential partners.

FACILITATOR

Mr Perbinder Grewal, General & Vascular Surgeon, Human Factors & Patient Safety Trainer, and Emotional Intelligence Practitioner .  Perbinder is an accomplished healthcare leader, management consultant, and patient safety and human factors trainer with over 15 years of experience in managing the professional development of staff and improving operational effectiveness in healthcare organizations. He is well-known for his expertise in patient safety, human factors, risk management, and leadership in healthcare.

Perbinder's passion for education and training has led him to deliver lectures and masterclasses to over 500 participants on topics such as team leadership, change management, culture, stress management, coaching, and mentoring, both in the UK and abroad. He has facilitated learners to acquire knowledge, skills, and competencies in an effective and appealing manner, while chairing informative conferences and seminars.

In-house Training

This course can be held at your organisation for up 25 delegates, we can tailor the content to suit your organisation and CPD needs of your staff. Led by experienced and highly rated trainers, in-house training works out cost-effective for groups and saves travel time.

Enquire Contact  [email protected]  with your requirements for further information and a quote.

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NHS Resolution publishes business plan for 2023/24

Date published: 22nd June 2023

We’re pleased to announce the publication of our 2023/24 business plan . In it, we set out our focus for the next twelve months, as we enter the middle year of our three-year corporate strategy: Advise, Resolve and Learn: Our Strategy to 2025.

We will continue to focus on progressing our four strategic priorities:

Strategic priority 1: Delivering fair resolution All of our services will focus on achieving fair and timely resolution, keeping patients and healthcare staff out of formal processes wherever possible to minimise distress and cost.

Strategic priority 2: Sharing data and insights as a catalyst for improvement We will ensure that our unique datasets help derive usable insights that benefit patients and the healthcare and justice systems.

Strategic priority 3: Collaborating to improve maternity outcomes We will build on our role as a system integrator in maternity, bringing together key parties to determine what further improvements can be made within our areas of expertise to support the system’s plans in the area of maternity safety.

Strategic priority 4: Investing in our people and systems to transform our business We will develop our services to support the changing needs of the NHS by investing in our people, systems and services to continue delivering best value for public funds. This includes continuing to progress our two change programmes, the Claims Evolution Programme and the Core Systems Programme while continuing to support staff in building their expertise and skills.

In the context of an NHS experiencing acknowledged pressure and structural change, we’re focused on making our interactions with the NHS as easy as possible to aid NHS staff who are facing extreme pressures.

We also continue to remain committed to promoting compassion and fairness when addressing shortcomings within the NHS, whilst remaining dedicated to delivering savings and efficiencies to the overall system.

We thank our partners and colleagues across the NHS and health and care system and will continue to work with them to deliver solutions rapidly across the system as needed. As well as this, we will continue to build our external relationships and partnerships to drive our strategic priorities forward. Now, more than ever, our plans remain flexible so that we can respond quickly to any unforeseen requirements of our organisation. Helen Vernon, Chief Executive, NHS Resolution

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The Business Planning Process: 6 Steps To Creating a New Plan

In this article, we will define and explain the basic business planning process to help your business move in the right direction.

What is Business Planning?

Business planning is the process whereby an organization’s leaders figure out the best roadmap for growth and document their plan for success.

The business planning process includes diagnosing the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, improving its efficiency, working out how it will compete against rival firms in the future, and setting milestones for progress so they can be measured.

The process includes writing a new business plan. What is a business plan? It is a written document that provides an outline and resources needed to achieve success. Whether you are writing your plan from scratch, from a simple business plan template , or working with an experienced business plan consultant or writer, business planning for startups, small businesses, and existing companies is the same.

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The Better Business Planning Process

The business plan process includes 6 steps as follows:

• Do Your Research
• Calculate Your Financial Forecast
• Draft Your Plan
• Revise & Proofread
• Nail the Business Plan Presentation

We’ve provided more detail for each of these key business plan steps below.

1. Do Your Research

Conduct detailed research into the industry, target market, existing customer base,  competitors, and costs of the business begins the process. Consider each new step a new project that requires project planning and execution. You may ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your business goals?
• What is the current state of your business?
• What are the current industry trends?
• What is your competition doing?

There are a variety of resources needed, ranging from databases and articles to direct interviews with other entrepreneurs, potential customers, or industry experts. The information gathered during this process should be documented and organized carefully, including the source as there is a need to cite sources within your business plan.

You may also want to complete a SWOT Analysis for your own business to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential risks as this will help you develop your strategies to highlight your competitive advantage.

2. Strategize

Now, you will use the research to determine the best strategy for your business. You may choose to develop new strategies or refine existing strategies that have demonstrated success in the industry. Pulling the best practices of the industry provides a foundation, but then you should expand on the different activities that focus on your competitive advantage.

This step of the planning process may include formulating a vision for the company’s future, which can be done by conducting intensive customer interviews and understanding their motivations for purchasing goods and services of interest. Dig deeper into decisions on an appropriate marketing plan, operational processes to execute your plan, and human resources required for the first five years of the company’s life.

3. Calculate Your Financial Forecast

All of the activities you choose for your strategy come at some cost and, hopefully, lead to some revenues. Sketch out the financial situation by looking at whether you can expect revenues to cover all costs and leave room for profit in the long run.

Begin to insert your financial assumptions and startup costs into a financial model which can produce a first-year cash flow statement for you, giving you the best sense of the cash you will need on hand to fund your early operations.

A full set of financial statements provides the details about the company’s operations and performance, including its expenses and profits by accounting period (quarterly or year-to-date). Financial statements also provide a snapshot of the company’s current financial position, including its assets and liabilities.

This is one of the most valued aspects of any business plan as it provides a straightforward summary of what a company does with its money, or how it grows from initial investment to become profitable.

4. Draft Your Plan

With financials more or less settled and a strategy decided, it is time to draft through the narrative of each component of your business plan . With the background work you have completed, the drafting itself should be a relatively painless process.

If you have trouble writing convincing prose, this is a time to seek the help of an experienced business plan writer who can put together the plan from this point.

5. Revise & Proofread

Revisit the entire plan to look for any ideas or wording that may be confusing, redundant, or irrelevant to the points you are making within the plan. You may want to work with other management team members in your business who are familiar with the company’s operations or marketing plan in order to fine-tune the plan.

Finally, proofread thoroughly for spelling, grammar, and formatting, enlisting the help of others to act as additional sets of eyes. You may begin to experience burnout from working on the plan for so long and have a need to set it aside for a bit to look at it again with fresh eyes.

6. Nail the Business Plan Presentation

The presentation of the business plan should succinctly highlight the key points outlined above and include additional material that would be helpful to potential investors such as financial information, resumes of key employees, or samples of marketing materials. It can also be beneficial to provide a report on past sales or financial performance and what the business has done to bring it back into positive territory.

Business Planning Process Conclusion

Every entrepreneur dreams of the day their business becomes wildly successful.

But what does that really mean? How do you know whether your idea is worth pursuing?

And how do you stay motivated when things are not going as planned? The answers to these questions can be found in your business plan. This document helps entrepreneurs make better decisions and avoid common pitfalls along the way. ​

Business plans are dynamic documents that can be revised and presented to different audiences throughout the course of a company’s life. For example, a business may have one plan for its initial investment proposal, another which focuses more on milestones and objectives for the first several years in existence, and yet one more which is used specifically when raising funds.

Business plans are a critical first step for any company looking to attract investors or receive grant money, as they allow a new organization to better convey its potential and business goals to those able to provide financial resources.

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Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

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2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance

The 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance reconfirms the ongoing need to recover our core services and improve productivity, making progress in delivering the key NHS Long Term Plan ambitions and continuing to transform the NHS for the future.

Version 1.1. Updated 27 January 2023.