Member to member / Take all the opportunities that present themselves

How did you start your NHS finance journey?

Well it was a long time ago. I finished University in 1987 with a mathematics, statistics and economics degree and still had no idea what I want to be when I grew up. I wrote to some local employers and went in for a chat with the deputy treasurer of Southern Derbyshire Health Authority on a Thursday. He said they were thinking of having a trainee and then had received my letter. We both agreed to give it a go so I started on the Monday after. I was a local district trainee and they gave me day release to do CIMA and sent me round various departments. I learnt a great deal in those placements. After a few years I moved into a substantive post and never looked back. When I had taken my finals I was appointed as senior management accountant and looked after all the HQ budgets. I then took a secondment to the FHSA and moved all their bound ledgers and day books onto spreadsheets. During this time we did a lot with GP fund holders and I managed more and more staff. When the Family Health Services Authorities was merged into the Health Authority I didn’t really want to go back and do the same again so I took a secondment to the Derby City General Hospital. For the first time really thought I was part of the NHS and will often see patients on trolleys go past our office door.

I went as a directorate accountant and worked my way up to Head of Financial Management. Since I joined we have merged with the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, implemented a new ledger for day one of the merger, applied for and got first wave Foundation Trust status and built a large PFI hospital. All the experience I ever needed was in Derby, so I never moved. I’ve been on this site now for over 20 years and deputy for about 10 of them.

Why did you get involved with the HFMA?

All of my bosses have been involved in HFMA in some way and all have actively encouraged people to join. I had to check with the HFMA to ask when I joined, it was back in 1991!

It was a big year for me, I passed my CIMA finals and became qualified, I got my first senior management job, got married and moved house. Sometime that year I also joined HFMA.

How do you support the East Midlands branch and how does the branch support you?

I’ve been going to the branch committee for a long time now and once when I was on holiday and missed a meeting, I came back to find out I had been elected into the treasurer position. It was a bit of a surprise but I have loved it. The branch is friendly and supportive and the emphasis has always been on building good networks. Through the branch I have met lots of finance colleagues throughout the East Midlands and this has always made it easy to ask questions of each other. We all face the same issues and problems so we might as well help each other.

Last year at the branch’s conference you won the Outstanding Leadership Contribution Award. Tell us more about the awards ceremony…

In 2016, we introduced branch awards for the first time. At the conference I brought along my camera and pronounced myself official photographer. I had a great time taking photos of the winners being presented and was very surprised when I was announced as a winner. What was really nice was that I had been nominated by a different trust. This was for setting up a network for deputy directors that grew to include anyone who worked in senior finance. We now meet three times a year and have well over a hundred people on a mailing list. We have also set up a costing group and a technical issues group that both continue to thrive.

What’s the most important HFMA member benefit for you?

I think we all have technical skills which can be supplemented by HFMA learning materials, but I think the best thing is the opportunity to network and share. HFMA events and networks allow this to happen. It’s often nice to find out that the pressure is the same everywhere else.

What piece of advice do you have for people who are starting their NHS finance journey now?

My advice is always the same, take all the opportunities that present themselves, listen to the people who have been doing the job for years regardless of their grade or position, don’t assume you know everything already, join the HFMA and go to events and build long term relationships in your networks. Your networks will help you in the future.