Comment / Step change

A whirlwind year has seen finance managers step up to the challenge 

Wow, what an eventful year! I was warned that my year as HFMA president would fly by – and that has proved to be true. But I couldn’t have predicted the whirlwind of events – outside and inside the health service. 

My year started on a personal sad note with the death of my mother. This meant I missed my own inauguration as association president. So a heavy heart and no glitz and glam. And it meant I then had a baptism of fire in January when I took up almost my first duty for the association: giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into NHS sustainability. 

A clear message I picked up from members as I visited branches was to be the finance function’s voice and ‘say it as it is’.  I’ve tried to be true to this from that first very public engagement, continuing it in regular meetings with system leaders and within the pages of this magazine. 

Under my theme for the year, I challenged the finance function to ‘step up’ and there is clear evidence that it has done just that.

The association saw its influence strengthen further with strong input to the national planning framework changes. System leaders also stepped up in listening to grass roots’ call for changes.  

The system is not perfect yet, but the recognition of the importance of moving away from an annual focus and planning earlier should be applauded. 

We all now have the responsibility to make things work and, as a knock-on benefit, the planning changes also give us some headroom for much needed progress in areas such as patient-level costing (as you can read in this issue) and service reform.

The association has had another strong year with a series of well-attended events and its new international value symposium standing out in particular. But it steps up again this month as it reaches another major milestone with the launch of qualifications leading to an MBA.

There are signs that we have all stepped up too in the financial results. The half year figures suggest a service working incredibly hard to constrain a deficit in the face of unrelenting activity pressures and the very real impact of cuts in social care spending.  Clearly there is more work to be done and the second half of the year is going to be much tougher, but we should acknowledge the work that has been undertaken.

Outside the NHS, we have seen a vote to leave the European Union, which led directly to a new prime minister. A weaker pound already means higher costs for some imported goods, but we don’t yet know what the full impact of that vote will be; with challenging times ahead no doubt.

Perhaps even greater uncertainty surrounds the impact of the election of a new president in the US. There could clearly be an impact on the global economy, which could have knock-on effects on UK inflation and interest rates. 

I also can’t help wondering that if I had been HFMA president next year, would I have faced even closer scrutiny as I went through passport control to visit the US HFMA annual national institute? 

Our temperature check (see page 10) gives an insight into the very real pressures facing finance directors, their teams and organisations right now. There is no denying that times are hard out there and that there are very legitimate concerns about funding. But I cannot help notice the amazing attitude of finance staff as I’ve met them throughout the year.  

Despite the very real challenges we face, I am heartened by our members – there is no shortage of enthusiasm or lack of community and there is a clear determination to do the right thing for services and patients. This is surely the very definition of a service that has stepped up. 

Contact the president on [email protected]