Briefing / Financial forecasting in the NHS

Being able to produce an accurate operational and financial plan and then to estimate how the organisation will perform in financial terms against that plan is a key responsibility of NHS finance directors.

This briefing will focus on the second part of this equation - forecasting i.e. how financial performance is estimated, predicted and reported within the NHS. The resulting prediction is subject to both national interest and media focus. This briefing sets out:

• What is a financial forecast?
• The current financial context
• Forecasting as a necessity
• Forecasting as an opportunity
• Basic principles of good forecasting
• Steps in preparing a forecast
• Trends in forecasting.

It also includes a number of case studies to illustrate how the theory is applied in practice and how some organisations tackle the challenges of forecasting