Comment / Call to assembly

The HFMA board met in Belfast in October to consider the current position of the association and the financial outlook of the service.
The HFMA remains financially robust and in a good position to
support members and the service in the coming period.  The NHS is
in a much more challenging financial position and we discussed what the association can do to respond.

Our governance review has highlighted a number of issues for the association. Some of these are really easy to implement; others will require more thought.

Perhaps the main decision is the abolition of our Policy Forum and its replacement with a new body called the General Assembly. The title may have shades of the UN about it, but we wanted to capture the sense of all parts of the association coming together to debate. 

The new body will bring branches much closer into the policy decision-making of the association and we propose to have sub-groups meeting around the same time with the aim of sharing information and best practice.  The General Assembly will debate and discuss two or three key issues within the association each time, to establish a coherent view and guide discussion. The assembly will be fed by a new Policy Committee, taking over roles from, and building on, the longstanding Financial Management and Research Committee. 

The aim will be for that group to pull together all the threads of thought within the HFMA and help policy director Paul Briddock determine his priorities in the coming period. 

The intention is for this new group to be much closer to committees and branches to ensure we remain coherent and get the best value for our policy and research investment.

The new structure will start to unfold once the annual general meeting has approved the rule changes in December.  These will sit alongside other changes to tidy up the rules – and they will be sent to all members in mid-November.

As always, the run-up to annual conference is a busy period for the HFMA. Numbers on all the programmes are very good considering the pressures in the system. I appreciate all the help and support we get, from the NHS and sponsors.

The conference in December will again be a great event with a good mix of NHS policy and management speakers for you to enjoy.

We will also release the results of our second ‘taking the temperature’ survey. This enables the HFMA to assess the current pressures in the service, based on the views of the NHS finance director community. Large numbers of directors responded last time and we hope to build on this as we continue to develop an authoritative view of the NHS financial position. I thank you in advance for filling it in. I can’t say what it will reveal, but you will be among the first to know.