Comment / Mission control

It’s been an interesting start to the year, to say the least. There’s no more guessing about the health bill, as we have it in black and white. It is an impressive document and one we shall no doubt be poring over for weeks as we follow the political twists and turns. There is something in it for everybody and every pressure group, which should make for an interesting passage through the Commons and Lords.

It presents the most remarkable challenge for all staff in the NHS and as usual – or perhaps even more so than usual – finance people are at the forefront. As we have said many times in the pages of this magazine it represents a huge challenge, but also a significant opportunity for those with a keen eye on where the service is moving.

For the association, we have our own challenges in trying to keep up with the pace. I am delighted that in December we held an excellent conference that was well attended and with a range of speakers with which I was very pleased.

The commemorative DVD and the celebrations for the 60th anniversary went really well and I would like to pass on my personal thanks to Paul Assinder for his excellent leadership during 2009/10. He handed over to Suzanne Tracey at the conference – someone whom I know has the association at the heart of her professional life and who cares deeply about finance staff.

At her acceptance speech at conference, Suzanne launched her theme for the year, ‘Take control’. She also launched an accompanying programme – 50 targeted courses to help finance staff in England, financed partly by the HFMA’s reserves and partly by the Department/NHS. This programme includes sessions on issues such as self-awareness, CV writing, coaching and presentation skills and we have been working with local finance skills development teams to make this happen. 

Phase two of the programme later in the year will be to continue to roll out coaching and mentoring support in England and to provide something for Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish members. We are currently assessing their needs in conjunction with the local branches. Suzanne is very keen for finance staff to ‘take control’ of their own circumstances in the new world in which we find ourselves.

I must apologise for the absolute snowstorm of e-mails that we have sent out in the wake of the launch of this initiative. We are obviously trying hard to get the message out and I am delighted the programmes are now filling up nicely. We will have more information about how the programme is progressing in the coming editions of this magazine.

We have other programmes that we now turn to, not least the foundation trust conference in June, entitled ‘Providing for the future’.  Please look out for the flyer on that event plus the PCT event, which immediately precedes it at Brighton.  Primary care trusts continue to have a major role in the transition to the new world.

In February we will also be launching the first early booker for the annual conference – the first chance for you to book for HFMA 2011. We’re looking forward to an eventful year and I hope you are too.

Don’t forget, we are here to help you ‘take control’ of your career and if we can help in any way, we will.