Comment / Select offerings

No-one connected with the NHS can deny we’ve had an interesting nine months or so – and we’re in for a bit more change over the coming years.  The association continues, as it has for the past 60-plus years, to remain a steadfast support for the finance profession. We aim to be there for our membership and fulfil our wider remit to undertake research into health service finance for the whole community.

However, that doesn’t mean our landscape isn’t changing too. We find ourselves engaging with new players and exploring areas we haven’t ventured into before. For example, our new GP series of briefings is designed specifically to talk to general practitioners and their staff about financial management issues; our second briefing on budgeting is now out and there is more to follow.

One of our overarching goals is to improve understanding of healthcare finance issues. Arguably the GP community, including practice managers, is one we should have already been engaging with on a more formal basis. But the proposed introduction of new GP commissioners means our engagement with this ‘new’ community is of key importance.

I know many of you will be facing unparalleled change in your own career, which is why our current president’s theme, ‘Take control’, is just so timely.  I was delighted to attend the first session in Leeds last month and as we roll out the programme I can see what an effect the HFMA is having on the ground.  There are still places on some programmes and you don’t have to be a member of the HFMA to attend, so please look on the website and see what’s available. 

We will also be putting some written guides on the website to support you in your career, so please have a look through them.  We are determined we will support the function to our level best and I am delighted that NHS deputy chief executive David Flory is personally very supportive.

I believe there will be many opportunities for finance staff in the new structure. The sheer number of statutory organisations proposed and the need for professional finance staff to manage them will, in my view, dictate this. But I can understand that if you work in a strategic health authority or primary care trust it must be very unsettling to have ‘at risk’ notices flying around. The association does not provide any sort of trade union function, but I would suggest those of you who feel you need further help should contact our colleagues at Managers in Partnership.  I am sure they will be only too pleased to help with practical employment assistance.

Life continues apace for the association, including the confirmation of our FT conference programme and the opening of early booking on our annual conference. Less routinely, our president has just been invited, among others, to give evidence on behalf of the association at the Commons health select committee’s follow-up inquiry into NHS commissioning. The session – on 15 March – will focus on the elimination of structural deficits in local health economies.

This is not the first time the association has given evidence to a select committee, but as part of our influencing strategy we are keen to be more regularly involved in this key aspect of the parliamentary scrutiny process. Those who are interested in the session should be able to tune in via www.parliament.uk – but we’ll be covering it fully in our next issue.