News / HFMA 2011: CFOs to have board role on CCGs

Chief finance officers will sit on clinical commissioning group (CCG) boards, NHS deputy chief executive David Flory told the HFMA conference.

Documents published by the government earlier this year had suggested it would be up to each CCG whether they would have a finance director as a full board member. But Mr Flory insisted this was never an issue.

‘The position is absolutely clear on the role of the CFO on the governing body of the CCGs. The HFMA challenged me on this earlier this year, but it was never going to be a problem.’

While he believed it would be difficult to find more than 200 finance managers at the right stage of their careers and with the right skill sets to fill the positions, he said a number of CCGs would share their CFO with neighbouring groups.

‘We need to get onto this. I am able to confirm the position of the CFO on the board,’ he added

He will meet cluster finance directors next week to work out how finance roles would work across the commissioning structure, including commissioning support organisations, CCGs, NHS Commissioning Board local offices, as well as the commissioning board itself. ‘We will clearly define the finance leadership roles in each part of the system. And when you add that up it will give all the assurance the commissioning board and the public require about the way we manage and account for the money in the system.’

He would also write to affected finance directors, inviting expressions of interest in taking up the new roles so there would be a pool of talent ready to submit to the recruitment process when CCGs came forward.

Mr Flory also underlined the importance of primary care trusts clearing historic debt so CCGs could start in April 2013 ‘looking forward and dealing with the challenges of the future rather than looking over their shoulders and having to deal with the problems others have left them’.