15 Sep Service credits

When a task fails to be completed within the terms of the supplier contract then we have been trying hard to investigate the event and to support any suppliers who have struggled to make the necessary changes in procedures. However, where practices are repeatedly failing to complete work against the service standards then the costs of investigating the reasons why will be passed onto the supplier practice.

The failed tasks also attract service credits and these are then highlighted on the month end invoice. The invoice indicates separately the number of service credits collected for TB test late submissions and those for service B (anthrax & brucellosis surveillance). Each service credit has a lifetime of six months and your statement shows the cumulative running total of ‘live’ service credits accumulated.

The service credit table also indicates what proportion of the total live credits active in the region are represented by your practice. This is an indication of the relative liability for any region-wide service credit infringement that is currently being carried by your practice.

It is therefore worth working alongside our field support team to do all that you can to ensure that work is submitted within the terms of the contractual arrangements. In regions such as The Midlands where the region-wide turnover can reach figures in excess of £500K then even a 2% contractual deduction will amount to £10,000 and a single large practice could easily be carrying over ten percent of the service credits live in the region at the time of the infringement.