APPROVED

NHS GRAMPIAN

Minute of Meeting of GRAMPIAN NHS BOARD held in Open Session

on Friday 26 June 2009 at 1.30pm

in the Conference Room, Summerfield House, Aberdeen

Present

/

Mr David Cameron

/ Chairman
Mr David Anderson / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Raymond Bisset / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Richard Carey / Chief Executive
Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen / Medical Director
Mr Alan Gall / Director of Finance
Councillor Bill Howatson / Non-Executive Board Member
Professor Val Maehle / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Terry Mackie / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Charles Muir / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Mike Scott / Non-Executive Board Member
Mr Gordon Stephen / Non-Executive Board Member
By Invitation / Mrs Laura Gray / Director of Corporate Communications
Mr Barry Jenkins / Assistant Director of Finance
Ms Sarah Johnson / Finance Trainee, NHS Grampian
Mrs Linda Porter / Senior Audit Manager, Audit Scotland
Mr Ewan Robertson / Director of Performance Improvement/Board Secretary
Attending / Miss Lesley Hall / Assistant Board Secretary
Item / Subject / Action
1. / APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Councillor Lee Bell, Councillor Kate Dean, Professor Neva Haites, Mrs Elizabeth McDade, Dr John Reid, MrMarkSinclair, MrsElinorSmith and Dr Lesley Wilkie.
2. /

CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly MrsLindaPorter, Senior Audit Manager from Audit Scotland, the Board’s External Auditors.
3. /

ISA 260 REPORT TO THOSE CHARGED WITH GOVERNANCE ON THE 2008/09 AUDIT AND LETTER OF REPRESENTATION

Mr Gall explained that the International Standard on Auditing (ISA) 260 required auditors to report to those charged with governance on certain matters arising from the audit.
The reportprovided confirmation that there were no material issues arising from the audit and that satisfactory assurances on specific matters had been provided by the organisation by means of a letter of representation from the Chief Executive on behalf of NHS Grampian.
The Board noted the ISA 260 Report and agreed to the Chief Executive signing the letter of representation on behalf of NHS Grampian. / RMC
4. / STATEMENT TO THE GRAMPIAN NHS BOARD FROM THE AUDIT COMMITTEE CHAIR
Councillor Howatson, Chair of NHS Grampian Audit Committee, advised that in this role he had to provide an annual statement to the Board to give assurance to the Accountable Officer in his responsibility for signing the Statement on Internal Control on behalf of the organisation. To assist with the Committee’s evaluation of NHS Grampian’s systems of internal control, Internal Audit (PricewaterhouseCoopers) was required to provide the Audit Committee with an annual statement of assurance on the adequacy of internal controls. The NHS Grampian Statement on Internal Control outlined the work done during 2008/09 to ensure that an ongoing risk management process was in place.
Internal Audit’s Annual Report had identified a number of areas of higher risk in a number of specific systems and processes, but these did not require specific disclosure in the Statement on Internal Control. Corrective actions to address these had been agreed and update reports would be made to the Audit Committee during 2009/10.
The Committee Chair's statement also included information on the Audit Committee’s governance and other responsibilities and the Committee's review of its own effectiveness.
Councillor Howatson thanked Finance Department staff and Internal and External Audit staff for the work done to bring the annual process to a satisfactory conclusion.
The Board accepted the Statement from the Audit Committee Chair.
4. / APPROVAL OF GRAMPIAN HEALTH BOARD’S ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2008 - 2009
Mr Gall gave a brief overview of the Annual Accounts highlighting the main points. He advised that they were in a standard format for all NHS Scotland Health Boards. He referred to page 3 which explained NHS Grampian had improved its performance for processing suppliers' invoices for payment from 38 days to 24 days. He advised that NHS Grampian was working towards the Scottish Government’s target of 10 days for payment of undisputed invoices.
The Report gave details of roles and memberships of governance committees to which authority had been delegated by the Board for assurance in a number of areas.
The Operating and Financial Review identified the principal activities and review of the year. The Section on Financial Performance and Position explained how NHS Grampian had performed against its three financial targets: Revenue Resource Limit, Capital Resource Limit and Cash Requirement. He advised that the cumulative surplus of £6.4 million would be carried forward to 2009/10. He advised that £826 million of cash had been successfully managed thanks to the work of the finance team.
He referred to the section on Performance against Key Non Financial targets and thanked all staff who had helped to achieve these targets. He thanked Estates Department staff in particular for the work done to reduce NHS Grampian’s carbon impact.
The Annual Accounts also contained sections on the remuneration of Directors and the formal financial statements including Operating Cost Statement and Balance Sheet.
He referred to the Statement of Health Board Members’ Responsibilities in Respect of the Accounts on page 20 which had to be signed by the Chairman and Director of Finance, and the Statement on Internal Control that the governance arrangements had been applied effectively in practice, to be signed by the Chief Executive as Accountable Officer. He drew attention to the Independent Auditor’s Report on pages 25 and 26 which gave an unqualified audit statement.
He referred to the item on Equal Pay Claims on page 54 which had been discussed at the Audit Committee meeting that morning. He advised that concerns had been raised by external auditors about this un-quantified contingent liability, but pointed out that it was accepted that there was insufficient information currently available to quantify any liability for NHS Grampian.
The Board approved the adoption of the Grampian Health Board (commonly known as NHS Grampian) Annual Accounts 2008-09.
5. / PATIENTS’ PRIVATE FUNDS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2009
Mr Gall explained that there was a statutory responsibility to maintain and have audited Patients’ Private Funds. Board Members considered the Abstract of Receipts and Payments which had been audited by independent auditors, Williamson and Dunn. Mr Gall recommended these for approval by the Board prior to submission to the auditors for signing.
(The Chairman declared that Williamson and Dunn were his personal accountants).
The Board approved the abstract of Receipts and Payments, which wassubsequently signed off by the Director of Finance and Chief Executive.
7. / AOCB
No items.
8. / DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Tuesday 4 August 2009 at 10.00am in Woodhill House, Aberdeen.

Signed ……………………………………….

Chairman

Date …………………………………

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