Accounts Team of the Year 2008

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This year’s award will again aim to recognise the most innovative and efficient ‘Accounts Team of the Year,’ with significant emphasis on the processes involved in completing the final accounts process.  

Further detail on this Award can be found in HFMA’s 2008 Awards brochure.

Winner: Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust

Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust was named Accounts Team of the Year, an award that reflects their move from a level one Auditors’ Local Evaluation score in 2006/07 to a level four in 2007/08.

The judges commended this and the fact that the team empowered new staff (including some who had come into key posts just before year end and a number of CCAB students) by delegating tasks to them. This sprung from the team identifying the risk linked to new and inexperienced staff while the process was still young. These staff were given early responsibility and a chance for professional development, and they were provided with training and support from experienced mentors.

The working papers were described in the annual audit letter as being ‘of an excellent standard, being well referenced and providing sufficient detail.’ They had a ‘hard closedown’ on assets in January and February to test and improve procedures and the results they produced. This created a continuous feedback and improvement loop.

Judges liked the use of this trial run and said success had clearly been based on a strong team effort. They also commended the use of plain English, together with graphs and charts to support figures, in the trust’s annual report. In the end, the accounts were submitted a day early and the team reports that the final two days were relaxed compared with previous years.

Further detail on the winning entry is available in the HFMA 2008 Awards Supplement.

What the judges said

“The team used formal work papers to set out their approach so there was no misunderstanding with auditors”

Further detail on the entry requirements, judging criteria and judges for this particular award can be found in the HFMA 2008 Awards Brochure.