Homework time

I recently attended the Wales Branch conference, held at the Vale Hotel near Cardiff.  What an excellent event the Welsh team put on, and so pleasing to see my Value the opportunity theme translated into real examples.

One of the conference sessions focused on genomics and the difference that intelligent use of this technology can make to the cost of treatment and speed of diagnosis for a number of relatively common diseases. 

We are all familiar with the diagnostic process of blood tests, scans and other diagnostic procedures – all aimed at narrowing down the diagnosis for individual patients. We heard from Sian Morgan, head of the All Wales Genomics Laboratory, on how sensible deployment of gene testing, which can cost as little as £50, can accelerate this process and eliminate unnecessary steps – a great value example if there ever was one.

As well as getting an opportunity to speak to members of the Wales Branch, my trip really brought home to me the reach of HFMA across our four nations. Since the devolution of political power to Scotland and Wales, there has been increasing divergence in health policy and the way the NHS is run in each of the four nations. Structures and management approaches are different and there are differences in the way social care relates to health.

However, we share common values and face very similar challenges, particularly around the delivery of integrated care and increasing moves towards the management of population health (see Population health: under scrutiny). 

We often talk about the potential to draw lessons from international health systems. But the operation of the NHS across the four home nations gives us all an opportunity on our doorstep and there is much to learn from how each service deals with familiar pressures.

One aspect I was interested to learn about is the way the Welsh senior finance teams work with their national team, something we are starting to see mirrored in our re-energised regions in England.

I am now about halfway through visiting the branch conferences, and I have been really impressed with the enthusiasm out there. It is particularly pleasing to see our younger members attending these events. I have seven further branches to visit over the next two months, and I am already looking forward to seeing the excellent work of finance teams across the country.

Many of the branches now have their own local systems of awards and recognition of achievement at their conferences, mirroring the national awards that will be being judged through the late autumn ready for the national conference in early December. I hope as many of these local award winners are able to participate in these national awards as possible.

Next stop is Kent, Surrey and Sussex in October.