Meeting held at 9:00am in Stella House, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Present:
Sue Douthwaite, Chair
Michael Brodie, Chief Executive
Kathy Gillatt, Non-Executive Director
David Leather, Non-Executive Director
Mathew McKie, Non-Executive Director
Randeep Sidhu, Non-Executive Director
Mel Tomlin, Non-Executive Director
Brendan Brown, Chief Operating Officer (Items 25/47 to 25/64 only)
Darren Curry, Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer (Items 25/47 to 25/64 only)
Mark Dibble, Chief People Officer (Items 25/47 to 25/64 only)
Andy McKinlay, Chief Finance Officer (Items 25/47 to 25/64 only)
In attendance:
Diane Dobrowolska, Commercial Briefing and NHSBSA Sponsorship Support, DHSC (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
Jo Hindmarsh, Programme Manager, DHSC (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
Nigel Zaman, Senior Programme Manager, DHSC (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
David Jukes, Head of Governance and Corporate Secretary (Secretary to the Board), NHSBSA
Danielle Taylor, Public Inquiry and Information Governance Specialist, NHSBSA (Observer) (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
Michael Costello, Head of Strategic Finance, NHSBSA (Items 25/54 to 25/56 only)
Neil Emery, Business Manager, NHSBSA (Shadow Board Representative) (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
Paul McGettigan, Head of Partnerships and Opportunities, NHSBSA (Item 25/58 only)
Joanne Miller, Performance Manager, NHSBSA (Item 25/59 only)
Sean Murphy, Head of Commercial Services, NHSBSA (Items 25/54 to 25/56 only)
Alison O'Brien, Associate Director of Operations (Workforce), NHSBSA (Item 25/59 only)
Jeff Pasternack, SRO - Future NHS Workforce Solution Transformation Programme, NHSBSA (item 25/64 only)
Ashleigh Peel-Lowes, Head of Strategy, Planning and Performance, NHSBSA (Item 25/53 only)
Ian Peters, Senior Transformation and Change Manager, NHSBSA (Item 25/59 only)
Libby Pink, Chief Portfolio Officer, NHSBSA (via video conference) (Items 25/53 only)
Chris Price, Future NHS Workforce Solution Transformation Programme Director, NHSBSA (via video conference) (Item 25/64 only)
Naomi Simon, Boardroom Apprentice (Observer)
Zoe Teale, ESR Senior Transformation Programme Lead, NHSBSA (Shadow Board Representative) (Items 25/47 to 25/63 only)
25/46 Board Structure Recommnendations and Appointments Nominations
The Chief Executive and Non-Executive Directors AGREED to the continued APPOINTMENT of Brendan Brown (Chief Operating Officer), Darren Curry (Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer), Mark Dibble (Chief People Officer), Andy McKinlay (Chief Finance Officer), and Allison Newell (Chief Strategy Officer) as Officer members of the NHSBSA Board from 1 April 2025.
(Brendan Brown, Darren Curry, Mark Dibble, Diane Dobrowolska, Neil Emery, Jo Hindmarsh, Andy McKinlay, Naomi Simon, Danielle Taylor, Zoe Teale and Nigel Zaman joined the meeting)
25/47 Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest
Apologies were received from Allison Newell. There were no declarations of interest declared in relation to the Board meeting agenda.
R Sidhu stated that his tenure as a Board Fellow at AVIVA had ended on 13 May 2025 and that he would update details of this on the NHSBSA Declarations of Interest Register in ESR.
25/48 Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 March 2025
The minutes of the previous meeting were AGREED as an accurate record.
25/49 Matters Arising and Outstanding Actions from Previous Meetings
The Board discussed outstanding actions.
All other actions were complete, to be covered as part of the meeting agenda or not yet due. The Board NOTED completed actions.
25/50 Chair's Opening Remarks
S Douthwaite welcomed D Dobrowolska and J Hindmarsh to the meeting. S Douthwaite welcomed D Taylor to the meeting as an observer as part of the NHSBSA Reciprocal Mentoring Programme. S Douthwaite welcomed N Emery and Z Teale to the meeting as Shadow Board representatives, and thanked Z Teale for her contribution to the Shadow Board during her tenure. Z Teale thanked S Douthwaite and the other Shadow Board members for the opportunity and their support.
S Douthwaite reflected on the ongoing changes being implemented across the health system, and the importance of ensuring a robust approach to risk and issue identification and management, operational resilience and organisational culture. Also, the importance of external scrutiny and challenge to ensure the business was operating efficiently and effectively.
The Board NOTED the update.
25/51 Confirmed minutes from the Audit and Risk Management Committee meeting held on 6 March 2025
The Board NOTED the minutes.
25/52 Update from the Audit and Risk Management Committee Meeting held on 13 May 2025 - Alert, Advise, Assurance (AAA) Report
K Gillatt gave an update on the work of the Audit and Risk Management Committee – this was summarised in an Alert / Advise / Assurance Report issued to the Board.
The Board NOTED the update – and the alerts, advice and assurance provided.
(Ashleigh Peel-Lowes and Libby Pink joined the meeting)
25/53 Chief Executive's Business Update Report
M Brodie introduced the item, highlighting the changes made to the report and the wider Board meeting agenda approach.
M Brodie, supported by the Executive Team, highlighted key points from the report, including in relation to:
- Baby Loss Certificate update
- VDPS Service update
- NHSBSA Customer Operations team winning the Employee Support Team of the Year at the CCA Global Excellence Awards 2025. D Curry stated that the Data Team had also been Highly Commended at the National Data Awards the previous night in the Best Data Team category. The Board wished to congratulate colleagues.
- NHSBSA being ranked 20th in the Great British Employers of Veterans 2025. The Board wished to thank all colleagues involved in this initiative, and highlighted the passion and commitment shown by N Emery. N Emery thanked the Board and Leadership Team for their support and commitment and highlighted the efforts of the network members.
- Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) DDaT Portfolio
- Contact Centre Modernisation.
- Implementation of the Secure by Design Principles
- Update on Secondary Care Medicine Data (SCMD)
- NHSBSA Strategic Goals progress
- Portfolio Performance
- Operational service performance
The Board agreed that the new report format, and agenda approach, was a positive step forward in the evolution of the Board in response to ongoing business and system changes.
The Board NOTED the report.
(Ashleigh Peel-Lowes and Libby Pink left the meeting)
(Michael Costello and Sean Murphy joined the meeting)
25/54 Finance Report
A McKinlay introduced the paper. A McKinlay and M Costello provided an overview of the Finance Report.
The Board NOTED the report.
25/55 Pensions Administration Services Support Contracts
Following discussion, the Board Retrospectively APPROVED the proposals for the NHSBSA to enter into call off contracts for McCloud Stage 1 and Pensions SMEs with EQ Paymaster under the LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme) Framework following the completion of the procurement exercise; and AGREED to grant delegated authority to the Chief Executive Officer to APPROVE award and the subsequent signature of the Contract.
25/56 Modern Slavery Statement
A McKinlay introduced the item. S Murphy provided an overview of the Report and the Statement.
Following discussion, the Board NOTED the content of the report and progress against previous commitments, REVIEWED and APPROVED the updated NHSBSA Modern Slavery Statement for 2025/26, and AGREED to publishing the updated NHSBSA Statement on the Home Office registry and NHSBSA external website.
(Michael Costello and Sean Murphy left the meeting)
25/57 Board and Chair Effectiveness Review 2024/25 - Action Plan
S Douthwaite reminded the Board that the results were presented at the March 2025 Board meeting, and it was agreed that a dedicated facilitated session would be arranged with Board members to review the results, gain further insight and agree any required actions/ next steps. This session took place on 15 April 2025, and S Douthwaite thanked members for their support and contributions at this session. As agreed, an action plan had been created following the session and this had been shared with the Board as part of the Board pack.
The Board NOTED the content of the Report and progress made and AGREED the Action Plan. The Board agreed that they would continue to monitor implementation of agreed actions throughout the year.
(Paul McGettigan joined the meeting)
25/58 Health System Reforms - Spotlight
M Brodie provided an update on the ongoing changes across the health service, including NHS England, DHSC and wider Arm’s Length Body (ALB) landscape.
The Board NOTED the update.
(Paul McGettigan left the meeting)
(Joanne Miller, Alison O’Brien and Ian Peters joined the meeting)
25/59 Assessing Readiness for Delivering McCloud Remedy: Capacity, Delivery Resilience and Engagement
B Brown introduced the item. A O’Brien provided an overview of the paper.
The Board NOTED the report.
(Joanne Miller, Alison O’Brien and Ian Peters left the meeting)
25/60 Any Other Business
There were no items of any other business.
25/61 Communications from the Meeting
The Board wished to congratulate colleagues on their success at the CCA Global Excellence Awards and at the National Data Awards, and colleagues for the achievement of being placed 20th in the Great British Employers of Veterans 2025 ranking. The Board wished to thank colleagues involved in the VE Day celebration events across the business.
25/62 Forward Agenda and Training Plan
The Board NOTED the forward agenda and training plan.
25/63 Date and Venue of the Next Meeting
The next Board meeting was planned for 19 June 2025.
(Diane Dobrowolska, Jo Hindmarsh, Nigel Zaman, Danielle Taylor, Neil Emery and Zoe Teale left the meeting)
(Jeff Pasternack and Chris Price joined the meeting)
25/64 Future NHS Workforce Solution Transformation Programme Status Update - Spotlight
J Pasternack and C Price provided an overview of the paper.
The Board NOTED the update.