Comment / Impact analysis

By Mark Knight

The Francis report into the failings in care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and in the wider system dominated February. We now await the Department of Health’s response, although we have already seen some changes unveiled. And quite rightly, the report and its 290 recommendations will also have an impact on the HFMA’s agenda for the year ahead.

We know best-quality care is built on sound finances. We also know higher quality care – delivered right first time – should also be the most cost-effective care. The HFMA has made much of the need for increasing clinical-financial engagement, especially around costing but more broadly in service line management and business cases. Francis underlines this. Only by working together can we improve patient safety, care and experience while meeting significant financial challenges.

Our work on understanding the costs of seven-day working is also firmly in the care and safety arena. But Francis will, I am sure, be reflected in all our programmes and events in the coming year. Our foundation trust and commissioning conferences stand out as opportunities for discussion on these issues and our annual conference in December is the perfect platform to reflect on the report and subsequent system change.

Our president Tony Whitfield’s theme is ‘Knowing the business’. The aim is to encourage finance staff to develop a deeper understanding and empathy with clinical staff – to get out of the finance department, understand the wider context and not be (in Tony’s words) ‘spreadsheet warriors’.  This aligns with Francis’ calls for an unswerving patient focus in everything the NHS does. The HFMA will be organising a large programme around this and will announce details in the coming months.

Many of you head for my column as soon as you read the magazine, full as it is with wit and insightful comment! You may, when flicking through, have noticed our advert for a policy and technical director, part of the HFMA’s wider push to provide better services for members, to communicate our work and views and enhance the association’s impact. 

We’re looking for someone from the service who may want to come and work with our small team.  I’d urge anyone interested to download the job pack from the HFMA website. We are also recruiting a marketing and communications director. These are both substantial investments for the association that will provide a significant return for members.

Last month, I announced the purchase of property to provide meeting rooms for the HFMA and commercially and we are well on with the contractual phase. By early March, a refit operation will be under way. As for our other major project, the royal charter, there will be little news for some time. We are proceeding with the formal application process but  it may be 2014 before we receive the final go-ahead. 

This is an important step. We are convinced royal charter status will give us more opportunity to be listened to as we continue to represent the views of the finance profession in the delivery of healthcare. With this in mind, the HFMA Policy Forum has crystallised our work programme and the challenges facing NHS finance into new policy themes. This will provide a more cohesive framework for our work, but also help us to better articulate the challenges facing the NHS and the finance role in meeting them. I encourage you to read them.