Credit Circle
The Credit Circle is a sub group within the Supply Chain and
E-Business working group. It was established to deal specifically
with the financial issues of trade between the Industry and the
NHS. The activities of the Credit Circle fall into two broad areas,
exchanging information and raising the profile of payment practice
in the NHS.
Exchanging information between credit professionals of member
companies has proved useful to members. There are some 400 English
Trusts and members can save considerable time through exchanging
information. The exchanges are limited to payment related matters
and is not exclusively to English Trusts as most members trade with
the Home Countries and Private Hospitals.
There have been instances where the Credit Circle members have
been able to respond to Trusts with a single voice. A few years ago
several Trusts sought to extend their credit terms from 30 to 45
days, having an industry response stopped members feeling
individually vulnerable. The Credit Circle has also arranged visits
to individual Trusts to discuss payment performance.
The profile of payment practice in the NHS is more strategic.
The issue is simply that while more money is being ploughed into
the NHS there is little improvement in payment performance. It is
now much more common for supplies to be suspended by suppliers
pending receipt of payment. There is however, little knowledge
within the higher echelons of the NHS that this is happening. The
Credit Circle has liased with the NHS Executive Monitoring Unit to
highlight members' worst payers. It is worth pointing out that the
focus of this exercise is not to lambaste the NHS but to seek to
work with the NHS to achieve improvements. In recent years the
Credit Circle developed a best payment practice workshop.
In common with any Trade Association the success of any activity
is reliant upon the involvement of its members in a common
purpose.