HFMAtalk podcast

For this edition of the podcast, Farida Khawaja caught up with Gerald Enuezie of Barts Health NHS Trust who were short-listed in HFMA's 2022 national costing award. Gerald shares the journey that finance and clinical teams have been on together to develop interactive dashboards, demonstrating the result of fantastic collaboration between the two teams.

For this edition of the podcast, Mark Orchard caught up with the HFMA's 2022 president, Lee Bond. They cover a variety of topics, from Lee's presidential theme 'Strength in Numbers', his career, interests and more!

For the 50th edition of the HFMAtalk podcast, Sarah Day caught up with Paul Butterworth, the Director of Strategic Financial Management at Macmillan Cancer Support. They discussed the role of social investment within the NHS, in particular end of life care for cancer patients. Learn more about how it works, the successes Paul has seen so far, how it is measured and how Macmillan has partnered with Social Finance to build the business case.

In this latest episode, Sarah Day catches up with Professor Sanjay Agrawal, the National Specialty Adviser for Tobacco Dependency at NHS England, Chair of the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group and a Consultant in Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine. Sanjay discusses the NHS tobacco dependency prevention programme and health inequalities.

We’re joined by three digital leaders in the NHS, Nicci Briggs, Mike Emery, and Sonia Patel for a conversation about the role of digital technology in helping the NHS overcome its challenges. They discuss the importance of setting solid foundations for digital transformation, the opportunities presented by the introduction of integrated care systems, and ways that the NHS can attract and retain a talented workforce to drive forward the digital agenda.

In this episode we are joined by finance leaders to discuss in detail how financial reporting and accountability arrangements work since the introduction of integrated care systems.

This is a supplementary recording to the episode, An introduction to NHS finance. You can listen to the main episode below.

In this episode we are joined by finance leaders to discuss in detail how the money flows across healthcare systems in terms of allocations, spending, and contracting arrangements.

This is a supplementary recording to the episode, An introduction to NHS finance. You can listen to the main episode below.

In this episode we are joined by finance leaders to discuss in detail the role of the integrated care board, and how this fits in with the integrated care partnership, provider collaboratives and place.

This is a supplementary recording to the episode, an introduction to NHS finance. You can listen to the main episode below.

In this episode we are joined by national, regional, and local finance leaders from across different healthcare systems to discuss the key things to know regarding the current NHS finance regime.

The topics covered include the current financial context, the role of new statutory bodies such as the integrated care board and integrated care partnership, how finances flow across systems, reporting and accountability, and where you can find further support.

As part of this episode there are additional supplementary recordings available which provide more detail on some of the key topics. Please also refer to the HFMA introductory guide to NHS finance for a comprehensive overview of the NHS finance regime.

Additional episodes (above):

- The role of the integrated care board
- Allocations and spending
- Reporting and accountability

In this latest 'In conversation with...' episode, Mark Orchard catches up with Nicci Briggs, chief finance officer at the newly-created Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board, and winner of the NHS finance director of the year at the HFMA Awards 2021. They discuss Nicci's new role, her career story so far, and what it meant to her to be named as finance director of the year.

HFMAtalk speaks to Bill Sivewright, chief executive, and Dr Phil Hyde, medical lead for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. They discuss the vital role of the air ambulance in supporting NHS services and caring for patients and how the success of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance operating model has led to it being rolled out in other areas across the country.

Mark Orchard speaks to Bill Shields, chief financial officer at Bermuda Health Board. Bill discusses his long and successful NHS finance career, his move to Bermuda, and what the future may hold for him, as well as reflecting on the factors that have shaped his career so far.

The MedTech funding mandate was launched in April 2021 with the aim of getting NICE approved medical devices, diagnostics and digital products to the NHS frontline quicker and with fewer barriers. In this episode Sarah Tyers, policy lead for the MedTech funding mandate at NHS England and NHS Improvement, discusses what the mandate is, how finance and commissioners can utilise it, and some of the innovations that have already been implemented since it was launched.

This episode forms part of the HFMA's Delivering value with digital technologies work programme, supported by Health Education England.

Alexis Percival, environmental and sustainability manager at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, and Dr Aarti Bansal, GP and founder of the Greener Practice Network, both have leading sustainability roles within Humber Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership. In this episode, they discuss how integrated care systems can drive sustainability, the healthcare impacts and benefits, and how the finance function particularly needs to play a leading role in this absolutely vital agenda.

In this episode, Jonathan Webb, lead director of finance at West Yorkshire Integrated Care System, Jane Hazelgrave, director of finance at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and Dawn Hanwell, chief finance officer and deputy chief executive at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, reflect on how system working has progressed in their ICS, lessons they have learned, and what the future holds as they move forward.

Addressing health inequalities has been recognised as a key priority for the NHS. In this episode, Dr Bola Owolabi, director for health inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement; Hannah Witty, CFO at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; and Duncan Orme, acting CFO at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, discuss health inequalities and the key role held by finance professionals in working to address them.

Series host Mark Orchard speaks to Owen Harkin, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance & Estates at Northern Health and Social Care Trust, and HFMA President 2021/22. Owen talks about his career and also also looks ahead to his role as HFMA President, discussing his presidential theme, his aims for the association, and what members can expect over the next 12 months.

Senior leaders from across health and social care take part in a roundtable discussion on the future financial sustainability of the sector and the challenges facing integrated care systems. The roundtable was held jointly by the HFMA and CIPFA on 21 July 2021.

In this latest episode, Mark Orchard speaks to the most senior NHS finance professional in England, Julian Kelly, chief finance officer for NHS England and Improvement. Julian reflects on his career journey, what motivates him, and what it has been like to lead the NHS finance profession through one of the most challenging periods in the health service’s history.

This episode was recorded on Friday 16 July 2021

Mark Orchard speaks to Professor Alan Brace, former director of finance in the department of health and social care within the Welsh government, and 2014 HFMA Finance Director of the Year. Newly retired, Alan reflects on his journey, his experience working in a variety of senior finance roles within his local Welsh community, and what he is most proud of as he looks back on a fantastic career.

Series host Mark Orchard speaks to Paul Baumann CBE, receiver general and chapter clerk for Westminster Abbey and former chief financial officer for NHS England. Throughout his career Paul has spent more than 30 years in senior finance roles both within the NHS and within the private sector. In a fascinating conversation, Paul discusses his career journey, his love of music, his brief acting career, and much more.

In the second episode of this brand new series, Mark Orchard, chief finance officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, has an in-depth conversation with Sandra Easton, national director of operational finance and performance at NHS England and NHS Improvement. They discuss her career so far, how she achieves a healthy work-life balance, the need to build upon existing work to improve diversity and inclusion within NHS finance, and much more.

Mark Surridge, midlands lead for NHS audit and UK sector lead for local government, and Cathie Eddowes, senior manager, audit quality team – public sector, from Mazars UK discuss the issues that are expected to be important during this years’ NHS external audits. The discussion covers the impact of Covid-19, where auditors are expected to focus their time, and what teams can do to best prepare for this year’s audit.

In the first episode of a brand new series Mark Orchard, chief finance officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, speaks to Hardev Virdee, group chief financial officer at Barts Health NHS Foundation Trust, about about his life, his career journey, his role models, and much more.

HFMAtalk speaks to Ian Ratcliffe, deputy director of sector accounting and consolidation at NHS England and NHS Improvement, about the issues that might be important over the next few weeks and months as NHS bodies prepare their annual report and accounts.

This conversation was recorded on Friday 26 March 2021.

HFMAtalk speaks to Richard Mellor, director of finance at Locala Community Partnerships, a community interest company based in Kirklees. Richard discusses what being a community interest company means, how they work with the NHS, the freedom they have to be more innovative, and some of the challenges they face.

Community interest companies are a type of social enterprise. You can find out more about social enterprises, and their role in supporting the NHS in their local communities, via the NHS Confederation's website.

As 2021 begins with Covid-related hospital admissions rising at a rapid rate and the country in a new national lockdown, HFMAtalk catches up with Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals Leicester NHS Foundation Trust, to discuss this wave from a clinical perspective.

Note: this episode was recorded on 8 January 2021.

In a special episode, Mark Knight, chief executive of the HFMA, looks ahead to the 2020 HFMA annual conference. He talks about what delegates can expect, what he is most looking forward to and the value of the NHS finance community coming together.

Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and Caroline Clarke, group chief executive of Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, have a follow up conversation to their initial discussion earlier this year. They discuss how things have changed in their organisations over the last few months and how they are each preparing for the second wave of Covid-19. They also look ahead to the HFMA 2020 Annual Conference.

HFMAtalk joins a discussion between three finance directors about cost improvement programmes and efficiency savings. Sarah Connery, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Chris Sands, Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust; and Ian Moston, Northern Care Alliance discuss the impact of the pandemic and how this will affect efficiency programmes in the coming year.

Andy Bell, deputy chief executive at the Centre for Mental Health, and Marsha McAdam, mental health advocate and peer ambassador for the Centre, discuss the impact of the pandemic on mental health, how people’s mental health needs should be met going forward, and the importance of taking this opportunity to ensure people receive the support they need as the lasting impact on mental health becomes clear.

Craig Marriott, deputy director of finance at NHS Lothian and HFMA Scotland branch chair, discusses the impact and response to Covid-19 in Scotland, highlighting some differences compared to the rest of the UK. He also talks about the challenges and opportunities presented to finance staff across the organisation as a result of the pandemic.

Maureen Edwards, director of finance, estates and capital planning at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, provides local insight into how healthcare services within Northern Ireland have been impacted by Covid-19, as well as discussing the varied challenges that her trust - as a provider of the full range of health and social care services - faced in tackling the pandemic.

David Bacon, director of finance at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, gives a local perspective on Covid-19. He discusses the impact on community services across the county, as well as how finance teams are re-examining processes as the new business as usual model is developed.

Professor James Kingsland, general practitioner, honorary professor at the University of Central Lancashire, and a founding member of the National Association of Primary Care, discusses the impact of Covid-19 on primary care and how the workforce have adapted to manage the response. He also talks about the role of primary care networks and uses his experience of disaster medicine to consider how the NHS will recover from the pandemic.

As services begin to resume across the NHS, Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, gives his latest insight into the ever-present threat of Covid-19, how hospital services must change as a consequence of the pandemic, and the differences that patients are likely to see when they visit hospital.

Debbie Paterson, policy and technical manager at the HFMA and Mark Stocks, head of public sector assurance at Grant Thornton, talk about adjustments that have been made to the audit of the 2019/20 annual accounts as a result of the pandemic, both within the accounts, and to the auditing process itself. Debbie and Mark also discuss issues that have arisen to the audit process so far, as well as changes already being planned for next year’s audits.

Note: This podcast was recorded before NHSE&I's Statement to support provider and commissioner forecasting was published on 27 May 2020.

Rob Whiteman, chief executive of CIPFA, discusses the local government response to Covid-19. As the NHS and social care have worked together closely to support their local communities, Rob talks about this positive working relationship as well as how the pandemic has impacted almost every facet of service delivery within social care.

Mark Bakewell, chief financial officer for both Liverpool and Knowsley CCGs, shares his experience of the pandemic. Discussing the challenges that his organisations have faced, Mark emphasises the value of system working, supporting the wider health economy and the role of emerging primary care networks in the region.

Sandra Easton, director of operational finance and performance at NHS England & Improvement, and Marcus Thorman, chief financial officer at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, discuss the need to simplify NHS finance processes and governance during the pandemic, and what was required to put these national changes into place quickly and effectively.

Sarah Brampton, director of finance at University Hospitals Plymouth Foundation Trust, discusses their organisational response to the pandemic and how a culture of empowerment has allowed them to make quick and effective decisions in response to the challenges presented.

Anthony Robson, finance director at QE Facilities, talks about the impact of Covid-19 on estates and facilities services across the NHS. He discusses how his organisation has supported the NHS both in responding to the unique challenges presented, but also in helping protect other organisations against fraud during the pandemic.

Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, starts to look ahead at a post-Covid NHS. He discusses the impact on other services, the importance of the public continuing to utilise the services they need, and the challenges organisations may face as they balance reintroducing wider patient care with allowing staff and teams the chance to recover from the pandemic.

Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and Caroline Clarke, group chief executive of Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, talk one on one about Covid-19 and what they have learnt about their respective Trusts, the NHS, and themselves during the pandemic. In a fascinating conversation, they cover topics ranging from the NHS of the future, the politics surrounding Covid-19 responses, Sanjay’s love of jazz, and pies.

This episode’s focus is on the West Midlands, one of the areas most affected by Covid-19 outside of London. We hear two perspectives of the local impact on services and finance teams, one from Ros Preen, director of strategy and finance at Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust, and the other from Susan Rollason, chief finance officer at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

Sanjay Agrawal talks about how staff are pulling together to tackle the pandemic and the impact that it is having on them. He also discusses the research that is going on to treat Covid-19 and to combat the disease in the future.

Sanjay is a HFMA trustee and a consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

As a global pandemic, Covid-19 is impacting nearly every country across the world. In this episode, Shaun Eldridge, president of HFMA Australia and Joe Fifer, chief executive of HFMA USA share their knowledge and experience of the response in their countries and its impact across the healthcare system.

This episode of HFMAtalk hears two different perspectives on the pandemic. First Mike Jennings, chief financial officer at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, describes how community services have had to change to address Covid-19 from a very early stage. Then, Ian Turner, non-executive director at Devon Partnership NHS Foundation Trust discusses the role of a non-exec in supporting the organisation to maintain good governance, without getting in the way.

After four days of working in intensive care, Sanjay Agrawal shares his experience and reflections on the reality of caring for people who have Covid-19.

Sanjay is a HFMA trustee and a consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

In this episode Suzanne Robinson, executive director of finance at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, discusses the impact of Covid-19 on the day to day delivery of mental health services, and what the pandemic could mean for future demand.

Caroline Clarke, group chief executive at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and HFMA president shares learning from the London experience of Covid-19 so far and considers how roles have changed to meet the challenge.

In the second of our podcasts with Sanjay Agrawal, HFMA trustee and a consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Sanjay talks about how learning during Covid-19 might impact how the NHS works in the future.

HFMA will be releasing a number of podcasts from people working across different sectors, regions and roles during the pandemic.

The HFMA is here to support our members, the wider finance community and the NHS throughout the coronavirus outbreak. We recognise that people face many different challenges and part of our role at the HFMA is to help people understand what their colleagues are dealing with, as well as supporting people to feel less isolated in their work and decision making at this time.

As part of this it is our intention to produce a range of podcasts that will hear from people working across different sectors, regions and roles. Listening to people speak about the challenges that their organisations are tackling, and their personal experiences of the pandemic can be very powerful. We are all working together to beat Covid-19; we are part of a wider effort even though we may be isolated from our teams.

This episode is the first in a series of conversations that we hope to share with you, with Sanjay Agrawal; an HFMA trustee and a consultant in respiratory medicine and intensive care at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Sanjay has kindly agreed to talk to us on a weekly basis, if work allows, to document the development of Covid-19 in his trust, sharing their learning and providing a clinical insight into the pandemic.

Join Lee Outhwaite, director of finance and contracting at Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Sanjay Agrawal, consultant in respiratory medicine and critical care at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, as they share their insights into the importance of collaborative working between finance and clinical staff.

This episode will cover:
- A look at how both finance and clinical staff need to understand the business
- What collaborative working looks like
- Reaping the benefits of quality improvement projects
- Using patient-level information and cost data (PLICS) to understand variation
- Moving to a value-based approach with a focus on population health

The concept of ‘value’ in healthcare – maximising the outcomes which matter to people at the lowest possible cost – is increasingly seen as a key lever for supporting the delivery of high quality sustainable healthcare. The challenge is how to do this in practice – both at an organisational and system level with the move to more integrated care for local populations.

HFMA’s Healthcare Costing for Value Institute supports the NHS to improve costing, turn data into powerful patient-level information, champion multi-disciplinary engagement, and ultimately drive value across patient pathways.

Accounts have been talking about IFRS 16 for so long now that it’s easy to think that everything has been sorted out already, but that’s not the case. Find out what the standard will mean for the NHS and what one NHS foundation trust has done so far.

Emma Knowles, director of policy and research at HFMA, tells you more about HFMAtalk, the podcast by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.