Member to member / Member to member: Alex Brady

Alex Brady, solutions delivery manager for Mersey Internal Audit Agency (MIAA), has been an HFMA member for six years. Previously a member of the North West Student Forum, he was invited to be its representative to the North West HFMA branch committee event to explore collaboration and that led to his decision to become a member of the HFMA. Here, he details his membership experience, with a particular focus on the North West branch and its bands 2 to 6 committee, which he currently co-chairs.

The member experience

When I decided to take the leap into HFMA membership, I was looking to widen my current network of NHS colleagues, which then led to wanting to collaborate with others and learn more about the world of healthcare finance. This has been incredibly valuable, especially within my role as a solutions delivery manager. One of the most notable benefits has been the networking opportunities afforded to me – you get to meet different people from different trusts through attending conferences or North West branch events and you can determine which members have similar positions or interests that may want to collaborate on a project, for example.

In terms of my current role with MIAA, it is externally focused, so the networking aspect of HFMA membership has been incredibly useful. You can’t underestimate how important it is to meet people as members of the HFMA and then outside of the organisation – you already have that common talking point to build that contact, especially as collaboration is so vital to the NHS. So, membership is a great way of bringing people together without going through the organisational route. The HFMA connects people you can happily seek advice from. If you know someone who’s working in say, management accounts or costing, you can ask a quick question if it arises. There are people I have met through the HFMA and North West branch that I have reached out to for advice about my work and where I see my career going, but in the other aspect some people joined MIAA and already knowing them via the branch committee I feel would of made them less apprehensive. In the NHS especially, as people move around a lot, knowing someone before you go into a new job is beneficial.

Not only that but membership has given me specific access to committee structures, like being part of the North West branch committee, and has also given me access to contribute to developing events through the committee, which I am a big advocate for.

As well, the exclusive content we as members have access to on the website is informative and useful. For example, I enjoy the briefings that come out regularly as they are relevant and up to date. They are also accessible: the HFMA’s policy team are able to translate all these NHS updates in an easy-to-read way. If a big change happens, it crunches it down into a more readable size with the key points, which saves you a lot of time and if it is brought up in work, you have that information already. I often signpost these updates with my team here at MIAA within the Student Peer Group and internal communications, to flag knowledge or even use them as an example as to why non-members should consider signing up – if they do, they can get access to these more regularly. MIAA is Investors in People (IIP) Gold and Towards Excellence Level 3 accredited which shows MIAA’s commitment to encouraging all staff to achieve their potential and, as part of this, access to the HFMA I feel is beneficial to anyone.

New initiative: the North West’s bands 2 to 6 committee

One of the biggest incentives I have seen is the option for free membership for bands 2 to 6 within the NHS. I think initiatives should be launched for members specifically in this area, so in the North West committee we had the idea to launch the bands 2 to 6 sub-committee (of which I am the co-chair) in order to cater to this influx of new members who may have been unaware of the HFMA or were aware but never took the step to gain full membership before.

We set up this subcommittee off the back of the idea that band 2 to 6 members may never have been a part of a committee or understand how it is structured. We also wanted to get their thoughts and ideas on what they want to see or do, as there wasn’t any representation previously for their group. The aim of this is that when they eventually become band 7 or above, they would want to continue their membership. The ultimate goal is that in 12 months’ time, one of the committee members can take it forward the chairing of the sub-committee and make it self-sustaining.

So far, it’s been very engaging and as a result of its success, we will now have a separate event alongside our North West annual conference in the summer that will cater to bands 2 to 6 specifically, with speakers and sessions directly from that group who have discussed key topics of discussion to be covered before they join the main conference in the afternoon.

This will be useful as there will be some sessions in the main conference that may not be as relevant to their role, leading to less engagement, so catering specific sessions for these bands will improve their experience. I would also be interested in comparing how many members attended last year versus this year to see if this adaptation has made a difference in attendance by bands 2 to 6!

In general, this committee will run events for bands 2 to 6 throughout the year alongside the main branch. At that level, a lot of events are catered to those who are studying and there’s an element that is missing regarding those that aren’t studying or don’t aspire to study, so the challenge is to keep them engaged in the NHS and the HFMA without tailoring an event to a professional qualification, for example.

Why join the HFMA?

If you are in bands 2 to 6, it’s free membership so I would definitely take up that offer – it’s a ‘try before you buy’ scenario that allows you to see what information is available to you as a full member. For those in band 7 or above, even though you have to pay for it, I recommend signing up based on all the benefits explored in this blog.

Getting in touch with the local branch could also help in making that decision as you can have a discussion with a current member to find out what they get out of membership and what the benefits are.

Want to become a member of the HFMA? Learn more here.