Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that hospital trusts have sufficient cash flow to pay suppliers in due time.

National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts are required to follow the advice within HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ which sets out that they are expected to include a clause in their contracts requiring payment of suppliers and the supply chain within 30 days. The Department’s standard ‘NHS Terms and conditions’ for use by NHS trusts and foundation trusts reiterate these terms when procuring goods and services from suppliers.

The Department of Health Group’s own Manual for Accounts sets out that NHS bodies must disclose their compliance with the Better Practice Payment Code target (to pay at least 95% of invoices, both for NHS and non-NHS suppliers within 30 days of receipt of an invoice) and detail their performance in their annual reports. The NHS Provider Regulator (NHS Improvement) has also raised awareness of compliance with the Code through its official monthly bulletin.

The Department is clear that we do not expect providers to delay paying their suppliers to improve their cash position. If a trust falls into difficulty, interim support is available in exceptional circumstances to ensure suppliers are paid and that patient services are not brought to a halt.