Reducing Salary Overpayments: A Collaborative Approach

 13th January 2025

In this article, read how the People & Culture and Finance teams in ELFT have reduced salary overpayments by 44% and saved the Trust £27,165 per month.

The Issue

One of the challenges the Trust faces is the delay in processing necessary forms when an employee leaves the Trust or changes their position within the Trust. This delay leads to salary overpayments, which employees then must repay. This not only frustrates the employees but also results in financial losses for the trust, as the money isn’t always fully recovered.

Since February 2024, the People and Culture team have been testing management inductions as a potential solution. These inductions aim to ensure that new managers are well-informed and proactive in processing the necessary forms on time.

A Formal Collaboration

In September, the People and Culture team teamed up with the Finance team to launch a formal Quality Improvement (QI) project. The aim of this project is to further reduce salary overpayments by 30%, by April 2025.

As part of this project, the team have reviewed key drivers that contribute to salary overpayments (fig 1). They’ve also looked at data across different professions, directorates, and types of overpayments to pinpoint areas that need the most attention.

Fig 1 – Driver diagram illustrating drivers that need to be addressed and change ideas to be tested.

Several change ideas have been proposed to tackle the issue more effectively. These include additional communications with budget holders and participating in clinical leads meetings to increase senior oversight. Additionally, the team is exploring ways to maximize the benefits of the management induction program, which is currently only attended by new managers.

Outcome and Next Steps

The team have seen a sustained reduction in overpayments from an average of £61,823 to £34,658 per month (fig 2), therefore saving the Trust on average £27,165 per month.

Fig 2 – SPC chart illustrating the cost of salary overpayments made to employees each month, April 23 – Nov 24

Next steps will be to share this work more broadly across the Trust, maximise the impact of the managers inductions and to further improve on reducing overpayments.

The Project Team – Isabella Larkin, Michelle Nicholls, Mohammed Rahman, Dipesh Varsani, Valentine Dube, Haffejee Knight, Tarini Avalin, Lucy Brewer (QI coach)