Comment / H is for healthcare

By Mark Knight

Back in 1986, the association – until that point known as the Association of Health Service Treasurers – went in search of a new name to reflect our new status as an association for all qualified accountants. The Healthcare Financial Management Association was quickly identified as the most appropriate title, with one slight difficulty – it was already in use by our American colleagues. 

Having the same name in a global world can be tricky.  Frustrated Americans often ask me how even on US internet searches the UK HFMA comes out first.  Fortunately, the US association’s new chief executive, Dick Clarke, argued our case, choosing to see the move as flattery rather than theft, and we gained approval. My point is that we were not renamed the NHS Financial Management Association. In 1986, people might not have envisioned competition becoming such a key feature of the health system. But our forefathers have ensured our name is more relevant today than ever.

The NHS is very much alive and well, with no threat to the concept of healthcare on the basis of need, not ability to pay. But it is clear that the current health bill (and the ensuing act) will create a greater role for non-NHS providers to deliver NHS-commissioned care. This is not new. The private sector has played an increasing role in recent years in the delivery of NHS care through waiting time initiatives and independent sector treatment centres. And more recently we have seen new social enterprise organisations emerge around community services.

However, it seems likely this will expand and relationships with these new providers will be important to us as an association and a profession.  We are already reaching out to some of these organisations.

As a member, you have a vital role to play: we can't possibly contact every organisation, so why not introduce a finance colleague in an independent organisation to us? We don't yet have a special faculty for these professionals, but we do recognise we are very much healthcare finance and not just the NHS. I would also welcome advice on how we engage our private sector colleagues, as we know it will be important to work in partnership in the future.

On the subject of faculties, we will launch our Commissioning Faculty at HFMA’s commissioning conference in May. The faculty will provide a holistic package of technical and policy briefings, along with a little influencing, to member organisations. A first faculty directors’ forum is planned for early July and another in October. The HFMA will put its full resources behind this – it will be free to all commissioning organisations initially – and we need the support of professionals across the sector.

The brave new world (to quote this year’s FT conference title) will be exciting and challenging – and for some members it will be career-changing. But the association is actively meeting the needs of its members. We will soon be able to give more details on our ‘Making a difference’ support package for finance staff. We remain at your service and look forward to working with you in the future.