Comment / Economic sense

The HFMA’s board of trustees met last week to agree the HFMA budget for the year from July.  It was interesting to discuss people’s ideas on where the NHS market will head in 2009/10.  While the NHS survived last month’s Budget with its settlements for 2009/10 and 2010/11 largely intact, the service – as with all public services – faces big challenges. We can depend on far slower growth for the NHS in the next spending review period than we have enjoyed in recent years.

The NHS will not be allowed to tread water. Improvements, particularly on quality, will be expected. But it is vital that in the drive for productivity and savings, the training agenda is not sacrificed. It is always easy to see training and development as a soft target for quick cuts. But success in meeting the productivity challenge will depend on a finance function that is on top of its game. Equally, improving understanding of finance across the wider NHS, outside the finance department, will become more important, not less.

Service line management, patient level costing, lean analysis and practice-based commissioning all provide potential for improvements. But they rely on all staff, clinical and administrative, having a grasp of the basics of NHS finance and understanding how their actions affect the finances of their organisation and the NHS as a whole.

Services such as the HFMA’s e-learning system should take on an even more important role in the coming years, providing an effective and good value solution to improving financial understanding. Our job at the HFMA is to identify where we can best help you – events, conferences and briefings that spotlight good practice, training that makes your jobs easier, a network that provides vital support from your NHS peers.

The Budget was not the only business discussed by the HFMA board. It also agreed on a new accommodation strategy that will move the association to a different floor of our building in Bristol, giving staff more space and slightly better facilities.  

Plans were also discussed on how to celebrate the association’s 60th anniversary.  Indeed, I travelled north recently to talk to John Hindle about his year as HFMA chairman in 1971/72 and noticed a remarkable similarity between the issues faced today and then. I was also struck by how important the association was in those days.

We hope to involve all members in our celebrations. We’ll let you know more soon – plans include a series of regional dinners.  Paul Assinder, our 60th chairman, will spearhead the celebrations but we are keen to hear your ideas on how we should commemorate it.

Looking ahead, the annual conference line-up for December is nearly finalised. An excellent line-up includes David Nicholson, David Flory and Mark Britnell and Andrew Neil. And those looking for inspiration from business leaders can look forward to hearing former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward and English football’s first female Premiership managing director Karren Brady.

Book by the end of June to secure early booking rates.