An iGov survey, commissioned by Serco, has revealed that the majority of managers, department heads and directors working within NHS organisations believe outsourcing and shared services will make an important contribution to the successful delivery of NHS England’s efficiency plan over the next five years.

62 per cent of respondents shared this view, while just 41 per cent thought outsourcing and shared services are currently contributing towards their efficiency targets.

With Capita on the verge of taking the reigns of the NHS’s back office in order to improve efficiency and cut costs, Serco reported that there was “widespread agreement” among respondents that the delivery of immediate savings over the next year will be the easiest step to take. However, meeting NHS England’s demanding target of generating consistent savings of two-to-three per cent each year between now and 2020 was considered to be a much more significant challenge.

Procurement was seen by 54 per cent of those surveyed as the business support area where the largest efficiency improvements can be achieved, with 45 per cent also seeing that as the area where efficiency savings can be brought about most quickly.

The most highly sought outcomes off the back of these organisational changes were ultimately improving the patient journey (74 per cent) and successfully delivering integrated care models (73 per cent).

The “Efficiency Challenges in the NHS” survey polled a broad cross section of managers, department heads and directors from over 200 different NHS organisations.

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