Comment / Building together

Another annual conference has passed and we now look forward to an exciting 2009.  As you can see from this issue the event was a major success and much of that is reported elsewhere.  I thought I might use this column to introduce some of the new officers who were appointed by the board and recognised at the annual general meeting.

At the AGM we said goodbye to Chris Calkin as he passed the chairman’s baton to Bill Shields.  I have gone on record previously, but I will re-iterate the point, that I believe that Chris has been one of the best leaders we have ever had.  His leadership, vision and confident handling of HFMA’s profile has been terrific this past year and he will be sorely missed.  Bill comes to us with many unique advantages and the board were keen to see him become chairman as he possesses drive, vision and an ability to see the future for HFMA.  Bill is strongly rooted in the branch network having been chairman of the Eastern and Wessex branches.

Of course the other key advantage of Bill’s chairmanship is that he has a seat at the top table of strategic health authority finance directors because of his current role as finance director at NHS South West.  This will no doubt give him an opportunity to feed in the association’s view – always useful.  The disadvantage of that position is that he will be restricted in what he can say, out of respect for his employer – and we must be aware of that factor and work within it. 

On the back of some of the media work that has taken place over the past year the board have therefore decided to appoint Chris as our new media officer/official spokesman.  He will continue to drive forward this area, enabling us to become much more visible as an organisation.

At the AGM we also saw a change in the treasurership with Paul Assinder relinquishing this role to Suzanne Tracey, finance director at Royal Devon and Exeter NHS FT.  Paul has become chairman-elect of HFMA and will be the 60th chairman of the association at the end of 2009.  The board has asked Paul to be our 60th anniversary ambassador – providing a focus for that celebration during 2010 culminating in the 2010 conference.

Paul is the director of finance at Dudley Hospitals NHS FT and has been a keen supporter of the association for many years and is our longest serving trustee.  For the past three years he has been the honorary treasurer of HFMA and I would like to thank him personally and on behalf of HFMA for the tremendous job he has done in that time.

There are a couple of new faces on the board, Mike Alexander joins us from NHS Nottinghamshire and John Barber from Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust.  I was delighted for John as his organisation picked up the HFMA Accounts Team of the Year Award – it shows we are choosing the right people.

It’s been a very busy and enjoyable 2008 and we hope for the same in 2009.  Wherever you are over the festive period may I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.