News / Call for better financial culture

NHS performance management must be extended beyond finance departments while government departments should improve their financial awareness, according to two reports from Treasury advisers.

A report on performance in the public sector said succession planning and training were vital to successful performance management.

Doing the business: managing performance in the public sector – an external perspective insisted that performance management must not be a centrally driven exercise or seen as the preserve of finance or any other corporate function.

The advisers, drawn from outside the public sector, said organisation-wide performance management would deliver better services through better risk management. The report said NHS foundation trusts were an example of good practice and commended their use of service line reporting, which allowed ‘sensible operational and strategic decisions’.

A companion report, Doing the business: embedding financial management skills in government, said government departments must address their tendency to announce policy changes without regard to financial control.

The report, which was produced by the financial skills advisory panel, said that financial awareness among departmental boards must be raised. It added that finance professionals’ communication and listening skills should be improved to ensure they were routinely part of decision-making.


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