Branch power

03 October 2018 Alex Gild

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It has been a real pleasure to get out and meet members and speak at branch conferences. So far, my travels have taken me from the North West event, hosted in Blackpool, via numerous stops to the most recent in Bristol for the South West Branch.
Alex Gild

These annual events are a highlight in the branch calendar and celebrate all that is good about the HFMA. It is the hard work of our branch volunteers that make these events a success year after year.

The conferences bring together finance communities to catch up with friends and colleagues, network and learn from each other. Agendas are designed with personal development in mind and create a chance for people to take some well-earned time away from the office to consider the contributions of often thought-provoking and insightful speakers, experts in their field or people sharing personal experiences of using our NHS.

It is high-value personal development time, a time to share between colleagues and continues to strengthen our brilliant association that has branches at its heart.

Each branch usually chooses a theme for its event. The South West theme was Learning from excellence, a great choice because we need to do more of this across the NHS. The agenda included ‘proud moments’ segments for colleagues on the patch to take the stage and share just some of the fantastic work finance teams are undertaking in support of services and patients.

I thought it was an inspired and inspiring session, rightly recognising the positive contributions the finance function makes every day across the country.

Elizabeth O’Mahony, chief financial officer at NHS Improvement, spoke openly and supportively to delegates, as she outlined the work to develop the 10-year NHS plan and review the financial architecture to enable it.

National leaders are providing clarity, backed up by a positive and collegiate tone, with work ongoing to strengthen and align the approach of NHS Improvement and NHS England. It is encouraging to hear.

It was also good to hear Elizabeth share her perspective on the ‘proud moments’ segment that morning. In spite of the challenges the NHS faces, she and her colleagues recognise the widespread pockets of excellence across the NHS, often with the finance function playing a critical supporting role.

It should be a welcome confidence boost to people in the function to know that our work is valued at every level.

We were also encouraged to take the current opportunity to feed our ideas into the development of the 10-year plan.

I look forward to seeing many more of you as the branch conference schedule heats up between now and the HFMA national conference in December – don’t forget to book!

Contact the president on [email protected]