Technical / Executive MBA helps with integration agenda

Mr Al-Marayati is also one of just two to have achieved the executive MBA with the University of Northampton, the organisation that took over providing the HFMA MBA from BPP.
 

For Mr Al-Marayati (pictured receiving one of his diplomas from former HFMA president Owen Harkin), the achievement is the culmination of several years’ hard work. To qualify for the MBA, students must acquire 120 credits. He did so by first undertaking the association’s Diploma in advanced primary care management, completed in 2020, followed by an HFMA Diploma in healthcare business and finance completed in 2021.
He says: ‘I’ve been working in primary care for four or five years and the primary care diploma looked like a suitable qualification to advance my career.’ 

On the face of it, the further diploma in business and finance – with modules on value, decision-making tools and the core finance module – looked less directly relevant. ‘But I really enjoyed my time, just taking myself out of the workplace a little bit, and it gave me a useful insight into ways of thinking that I’m applying all the time, especially Porter’s value-chain.’

The MBA was a logical next step. ‘I’d been wanting a masters degree for a long time and this was such a convenient way to do it, because I could do it alongside my work.’ 
Mr Al-Marayati was also able to use his dissertation to explore areas he was working on at the time – the enhanced access contract by which primary care networks offer GP appointments in the evenings and on Saturdays.

He says the earlier healthcare business and finance diploma and the masters have both been instrumental in giving him a broader view of the NHS. ‘With the healthcare system becoming more intertwined with the advent of integrated care boards and systems, it is increasingly essential that people in primary care understand more about the different services on offer and how the different sectors operate,’ he says. 

‘It has given me a lot more confidence in having discussions with ICB colleagues and I feel more equipped with the knowledge to be able to influence change.’ And he believes the qualifications have contributed to his recent appointment as director of his GP federation.

Mr Al-Marayati acknowledges the studying was demanding alongside his full-time job, but he praised the flexibility of Northampton University, which extended his dissertation deadline after a particularly busy period of work at the year-end to meet quality and outcomes framework demands.

There was still availability for these bursaries when Healthcare Finance went to press – though funded spaces depend on approval from the relevant governing body.
The Midlands Finance Academy is also covering the costs of 12 advanced diplomas – one per integrated care system and one for the NHS England regional team. 
Again, applicants must work for an NHS finance team in the region.

 

MBA: more details