First Awards
As of 25 June 2019, a total of 3708 applications have been processed. 97.98% were paid on time.
To recap for the full month of May, 4358 were processed, of which 97.77% were paid on time.
Bereavements
Bereavements processing is progressing well through recovery. Our forecast is to be fully recovered by 31 July 2019.
Revised Pensions (AW171)
Staff training on the new business process for revised pensions has been completed and the clearance rates are really encouraging. 1164 cases were cleared during the first month between 16 May and 14 June.
Contact Centre
During May, collectively across all 4 lines, a total of 61,698 calls were received. Each call on average took approximately 7 minutes 54 seconds to resolve and customers were waiting no more than 17 minutes for their call to be answered on any given day which shows an improvement on the month before. In June so far we have received 38,971 calls and on average callers were waiting 15 minutes for their call to be answered.
The messages remain on the lines to further support customers at this time. However, as a longer-term solution, we are recruiting more call handlers to help reduce the wait times to improve the ongoing service to our customers.
TRS Refresh 2019
The TRS data cut for the annual refresh took place as planned at 7pm on Friday 21 June 2019. If all goes to plan, we expect refreshed statements to be made available on Wednesday 21 August 2019. The data cut will capture successfully updated records up to and including 31 March 2019.
For any records updated after 21 June, this information will not be reflected in statements until after the mid-year refresh in December 2019.
Pensions Online (POL) replacement system 2020
A Project has commenced to update the current version of Pensions Online. The first phase of the delivery will be to re-platform the service and the aim is to do this in the early months of 2020. The new platform will look different but essentially it will offer the same level of service available today, but unlike the current service, it will be available to all employers to use.
Once the new platform has been delivered, this will act as an enabler for new employer services and improvements to the existing functionality. As we develop the new platform, we will share our progress so you can see how it looks and feels before the system is implemented. We will be looking for volunteer employers to get involved in testing over the coming months so please watch out for our monthly updates.
POL availability
POL will be available throughout July 7am to 7pm apart from the periods noted below for scheduled system maintenance:
Friday 12 July 7pm to Monday 15 July 7am
Friday 31 July 7pm to Monday 2 August 7am
Farewell to our CEO
Our CEO Alistair McDonald retired on 30 June after almost 30 years working for the NHSBSA. Alistair started a journey over the last 2 years to transform the strategic direction of the NHSBSA and has encouraged all of us in the organisation to explore what we can achieve for the good of the wider health and care system.
Welcome to our new CEO
We are delighted to announce that Michael Brodie will succeed Alistair as the new CEO for the NHSBSA and will take up his new post at the beginning of September. Michael is currently Finance and Commercial Director at Public Health England. As well as having extensive experience at Board level and across the public service, Michael held the role of Finance Director at the NHSBSA before taking up his current post at Public Health England in April 2013, so he knows the organisation well.
Michael said of his new appointment:
“I feel privileged to be appointed as the new leader and I am looking forward to meeting everyone and continuing the excellent work the NHSBSA does for patients, the public and the taxpayer.”