Feature / Into chartered territory

In recent months the HFMA has been thinking about its strategic direction as we look to step up in the wake of changes to the NHS not only in England but in all parts of the UK.  One discussion has been about the possibility of HFMA applying for a royal charter. 

Over the past few weeks, in the run-up to the October board of trustees meeting, the association consulted members on this issue with the simple question: should the HFMA apply for a royal charter? The consultation yielded some 645 responses with 591 in favour and 54 against (roughly 92% to 8%). This is an overwhelming mandate in favour of the move and one the board could not ignore. So at the recent meeting it was decided to apply for the charter and seek ratification of the new articles of association at the annual general meeting in December.

The HFMA is not only a democratic organisation, but one that looks to take the whole finance community along with us.  Therefore the board has picked over every one of the 91 free text comments submitted alongside responses to the simple survey question. Some of these were critical, many were very supportive. On behalf of the board, we would like to say a big thank you to those of you who took part in the process.

If successful with our application to the Privy Council, the new organisation will be called the Chartered Healthcare Financial Management Association (CHFMA). This name was the overwhelming choice of the board because it keeps our existing name – a name that defines our function and for which there is huge affection – while recognising the status the royal charter would deliver.

Membership structure

The new association would have a similar membership structure as today with a couple of small changes. It would continue to have honorary fellows – past leaders of the organisation and individuals adjudged to have made a sustained and substantial contribution to the association. In addition individual ordinary members who could demonstrate seven years’ HFMA membership and be considered senior individuals within their organisations could also apply for fellowship. 

A specially convened Fellows Committee would operate an open and transparent process overseeing the award of both honorary fellowships and fellowships. It would advise the HFMA board on these matters. Fellows would be able to wear post-nominal initials after their name – probably FCHFM – but this would have to be agreed with the Privy Council.

The other change would be to the ordinary member class. An ordinary member would be either a qualified or non-qualified person who works in the healthcare finance sector whether in the mainstream NHS, a private organisation, social enterprise or even local authority. This includes consultants who can demonstrate they work in the health sector, but who may have a portfolio of work in other places as well.  

Only those who have at least two years’ HFMA membership and who are CCAB (or equivalent) would be able to use the post-nominal letters MCHFM, although again this would need to be approved by the Privy Council. Ordinary membership would apply to those who are actively engaged in healthcare finance and only ordinary members could attend branch meetings and vote.

Further along what we hope will be a successful charter approval process, we will publish an access strategy that will outline measures to help individuals further down the management tree. We will consider whether we could move to monthly subscriptions and improve our benefits package. One change is that from the 1 July 2013 subscription round we would move the abated rate bar to the top of band 6 or equivalent (£34,189). Staff below that level would pay half-rate subscriptions.

There would be two other grades, including an associate grade for individuals such as non-executive directors. This associate class (£65 per year) would effectively be for individuals who want most of the benefits of joining but do not work in healthcare finance (in the widest sense not just NHS). The board would be able to bestow associate membership on individuals at its discretion. The final class is affiliate membership, which would be given to those completing the e-learning based Introductory certificate in healthcare finance.

A number of queries came out of the consultation (see right), but we hope any lingering doubts members have had about the application for a royal charter will be allayed by this article.

The board debated these points long and hard to ensure your interests as members were protected. We hope to see you at the AGM on 7 December, when we will vote on the draft constitution and rules for the new association.  If not, please get your proxy or postal vote to us in good time – the AGM notice is published on 16 November. If you have any further comments to make please do not hesitate to contact us on [email protected] .