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Losses and special payments procedure

Contents

  1. Aim
  2. Scope
  3. Link to overarching policy
  4. Procedure
  5. Equality impact assessment screening
  6. Appendices

1 Aim

The procedures set out in this document are to ensure best practice is undertaken and that losses and special payments are made accurately and efficiently.

There are a number of examples where situations give rise to losses and special payments, these are:

1.1 Losses

  • Losses of cash.
  • Fruitless payments, including abandoned capital schemes, bad debts and abandoned claims.
  • Damage to buildings, their fittings, furniture and equipment and loss of equipment and property in stores and in use.

1.2 Special payments

  • Compensation payments made under legal obligation.
  • Extra contractual payments made to contractors.
  • Ex gratia payments.
  • Extra statutory and extra regulatory payments.

2 Scope

The principles set out in this document must be applied by all members of staff who have a general responsibility for the security of trust property and, on patient’s property entrusted to them for safe keeping, for avoiding losses or damage of any kind and for guarding against incidents which may give rise to legal claims.

There are no specific training needs in relation to this procedure, but all trust staff will need to be familiar with its contents. All staff need to be aware of the key points that the policy covers, and staff can be made aware through: team meetings, team brief, trust wide email, intranet.

The chief executive has overall responsibility for the maintenance and implementation of trust procedural documents. The director of finance is accountable for the implementation and maintenance of this procedural document.

3 Link to overarching policy

Trusts standing financial instructions and standing orders trusts incident reporting policy SFI.

Reservation of powers to the board of directors and scheme of delegation.

4 Procedure

The following procedure must be followed by all staff:

Any member of staff discovering a suspected loss of any kind must immediately inform their head of department. The head of department must immediately inform the chief executive and the director of finance.

In each case of loss, damage or claim consideration should be given to the possibility of reclaiming costs from the trusts insurers. However and excess will apply depending on the type of claim for example, £20,000 for buildings and £3,000 for public liability. The details should immediately be notified to the Finance Department, who will then take any necessary action with regard to insurance cover.

A losses and compensation form (see appendix A) should be completed within three months of the claim and incident being identified, signed by the claimant and the head of department. The claim should be supported by:

  1. a copy of the incident report
  2. a copy of the IR1 (if appropriate)
  3. a copy of any receipts or estimates of costs of replacement or repair
  4. any other relevant information to support the claim. It should be evidenced that a full investigation has been undertaken to ensure a valid claim is submitted

For losses apparently caused by theft, arson, neglect of duty or gross carelessness, except if trivial, the director of finance must immediately notify both:

  • the board of directors
  • the external auditor

The claim should be signed at paragraph 12 by the appropriate director responsible for the losses and compensation budget to which the claim is to be charged.

The claim form should then be passed to the financial controller for entering in the losses and compensations register, checking and completion of paragraph 13 of the claim form.

All claims will then be passed on to the director of finance for approval.

Claims in excess £10,000.00 must be countersigned by the chief executive.

The board shall approve the writing off of losses. The levels of delegation are set out in the reservation of powers to the board of directors and scheme of delegation.

Following authorisation, the form will be returned to the financial controller, who will record the relevant details in the losses and compensation register and will arrange for any necessary payments to be made. Payment will be made by cheque.

The audit committee will receive a report of losses made quarterly.

5 Equality impact assessment screening

To access the equality impact assessment for this policy, please email rdash.equalityanddiversity@nhs.net to request the document.

6 Appendices

6.1 Appendix A Losses and compensation form

Document control

  • Version: 6
  • Unique reference number: 200.
  • Approved by: Corporate policy approval group.
  • Date approved: 5 March 2024.
  • Name of originator or author: Assistant director of finance.
  • Name of responsible individual: Director of finance.
  • Date issued: 5 March 2024.
  • Review date: 30 March 2027.
  • Target audience: All staff.

Page last reviewed: October 01, 2024
Next review due: October 01, 2025

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