External contributor / Eric Gardiner

Eric has over 20 years’ experience working in finance, with 18 years being spent in the NHS. He has worked in a variety of roles and organisations, predominantly in the North West of England and has a broad range of financial experience. His current role is finance director – provider services, in a health board in Wales. He is a qualified accountant and a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

After having benefitted from the HFMA scheme as a mentee, Eric was keen to support colleagues in a similar manner and is an advocate of live long development to maximise an individual’s potential. Eric has been actively involved in staff development for a large part of his career and has previously been involved in organising the North West student conference and has presented a number of finance related staff development courses.

Eric is an experienced and qualified mentor completing his mentor training with HFMA in 2012. Eric has a calm methodical style, naturally reflective and encourages individuals to stretch their boundaries and work with clinicians.

Examples of mentoring projects include career planning for a junior accountant and supporting the development of a finance professional looking to move from a provider organisation.