News

• PCTs and SHAs leave £1.4bn surplus to successor bodies
  THE NHS IN England is on course to deliver a surplus of more than £1.4bn in 2012/13, according to final board reports posted by the (now disbanded) strategic health authority clusters.
• Patient care hindered by paperwork, says RCN
  Nursing staff are spending about 2.5 million hours a week on non-essential paperwork and clerical tasks, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
• Administrators gear up for ‘test’ of failure plan
  The decision to put Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust into administration will be a ‘key test’ of the failure regime, according to the Foundation Trust Network (FTN).
• HFMA survey highlights a small increase in segmental reports
  NHS providers appear to be moving slowly towards reporting their annual financial accounts by different business segments, according to a survey carried out by the HFMA’s Foundation Trust Technical Issues Group.
• NHS England to lead on QIPP efforts
  NHS England is to take a lead role in delivering QIPP (quality, innovation, productivity and prevention) savings, with a focus on supporting the transformation of service delivery.
• Miliband puts faith in integration savings
  Labour’s independent commission on whole-person care will examine different ways of bringing health and social care budgets together, the party leader Ed Miliband said.
• Calls for faster reform on allocation
  NHS England could speed up the transformation of care delivery by accelerating the pace of change of commissioning groups to their target allocations.
• News review
  Seamus Ward assesses the past month in healthcare finance
• News analysis: Positive response
  What can finance managers do to respond to the Francis report? Seamus Ward reports

Comment

• In the safety zone
  Providing high-quality, safe services for patients is an intrinsic part of delivering strong financial performance, writes HFMA president Tony Whitfield
• Time to apply the local principle
  As the NHS continues to move to principle-based accounting manuals, local finance teams need to take local decisions on the accounting treatment of local transactions, writes David Bacon
• Points of review
  Association chief executive Mark Knight on three new HFMA reviews

Features

• Location, location, location
  New tariffs for clinical placements in NHS organisations aim to end cross-subsidisation between training and healthcare funding and drive up training quality. Health Education England’s Chris Jeffries talks to Steve Brown
  Download Location, location, location PDF
• On the way
  Recent studies have cast doubt on the cost-effectiveness of telehealth – but advocates say its value can only be seen on the large scale. Seamus Ward asks whether it really can help the NHS
  Download On the way PDF
• Fair shares?
  A review of the way NHS funding is allocated in England is under way, offering an opportunity for radical change, according to the King’s Fund. Seamus Ward reports
  Download Fair shares? PDF
• Visual acuity
  A new system is enabling Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS FT to keep a constant track of nurse dependency at both patient and ward level. While it has benefits for ward management and clinical governance, it could also mean much more accurate cost allocation. Steve Brown reports
  Download Visual acuity PDF
• Technical round-up
  Our monthly review of the latest technical guidance and reports, with links to the original documents
  Download Technical round-up PDF
• NICE update
  The guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in April
  Download NICE update PDF