Service level agreements

This section will make clear who is involved in the agreement.  More specifically it should detail clearly who is commissioning or contracting the service and who is providing the service.

This will cover the names of the organisations involved but should also name individuals who will be involved in ongoing reporting and communications around the SLA to aid transparency for both parties.

A consequence of not being clear on those responsible for reporting and communicating about the SLA may well be that no communication takes place and the SLA either fails in its purpose, cannot be effectively reported on, and/or becomes much more difficult to renegotiate over time as priorities change.

Although it may be necessary to involve other stakeholders in the sign-off process, it may be useful if there is an opportunity for the named individuals involved in the reporting process to sign the document to enhance their ownership of the process.

This section can often be the most detailed and will require negotiation between the supplier and commissioner to agree the specifics of what is required and explore the ability of the supplier to deliver what is required within the finances available from the commissioner.  This can be referred to as the “service specification”.

It will rarely be possible for NHS knowledge and library specialists to deliver a fully comprehensive service identical to that available to their host organisation unless substantial funding is available attached to the SLA.  Therefore, it is crucial to agree the specific deliverables and document these within the SLA to prevent any misunderstanding.

What services are expected to be delivered as part of the SLA?  This could include borrowing rights and access to physical space and resources, access to information skills training, evidence searching, current awareness and so on.  It is important to factor in the costs associated with negotiating, managing and reporting on the contract.

Consideration should be given to the anticipated levels of service demand. For example, if evidence searches are part of the agreement, how many are likely to be required each year.  If document supply and inter-lending is included, how many instances are expected per year, and so on.  This then provides a trigger for renegotiation later should the demand exceed expected levels.

If quality measures and key performance indicators (KPIs) are to be included in the agreement, then these will also need to be negotiated and detailed here.  In the context of NHS knowledge and library services this might include details such as responding to email queries from staff within x days, or delivering evidence searches within X days. Further ideas are available on the metrics page.

There may be a provision included for what happens in circumstances where the provider is unable to deliver the agreed service. 

It is important that the services and resources covered by the SLA are deliverable within the financial envelope attached to the agreement. The service manager supplying the service is encouraged to use NHS costing tools or speak to the local finance team to provide an evidence base for any estimates and decisions around the cost of the SLA.

Fixed or Variable Costs

Rather than denoting fixed overall costs for the agreement, sometimes a “pay-as-you-go" approach is offered.  The agreement may designate a fixed fee for each literature search, training session, or document supply request, for example. 

Whilst the commissioning organisation may feel more confident about not paying for services which might not be fully used, they may however have less control over usage and costs. Careful monitoring and capping is required to avoid over-spending.

For the provider pay-as-you-go offers less certainty around the level of the income stream and restricts the ability to offer a full service.  This is particularly challenging if additional staff are being recruited or funded to deliver the SLA.

Consideration should be given to the duration of the agreement and any arrangements for renewal.  Long standing agreements may run for several years at a time.  New agreements might be piloted for 3-6 months in the first instance and then reviewed and refreshed with any changes made.

The commencement and termination date/renewal date for the agreement should be included in the document.

The SLA should be an evolving and live document with opportunities to make changes as new priorities emerge and organisational needs arise.  With this in mind it is important to agree review periods in the document where both parties can get together and discuss the arrangements and any successes and challenges associated with it.

Where key performance indicators (KPIs) or other performance measures have been agreed these should form part of the reporting process and be included in any review meeting discussions. 

In circumstances where any changes to the agreement are proposed, stakeholders with the appropriate level of authority to agree such changes should be involved in the discussions.