Seeing the positives

I hope you managed to fit in a bit of down time during the summer period. However, we all know that this is never a quiet period, despite the need to take summer holidays.

This year has been no different, with plenty of activity under way in developing system plans for discussion with regulators during the early autumn.

With the change in government leadership, we are starting to see decisions being made on some of the things that are inhibiting progress in improving services for patients. 

The recognition of the problems created by the way the NHS pension scheme interacts with the tax regime is welcome. And I am sure the process of consultation will yield an improvement on the current position once the process has been completed.

Those of you who have seen economic cycles
before, will not be surprised to see that capital constraints are the first area that get a look-in, as government starts to prioritise for the future. The one-off nature of this type of spend makes it an attractive way of making an impact in the NHS.

Critics will say it’s not new money, or too little too late. But let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. We badly need investment to address backlog maintenance issues in our hospitals, and the previous capital constraints have made this very difficult. 

In addition, most sustainability and transformation partnerships or integrated care systems have a strategic case for capital investment to transform service provision, and we now have an opportunity to pursue the ones that offer best value.

In July, HFMA chief executive Mark Knight and I hosted HFMA’s annual key supporter’s event in London (see page 30), which is an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution made to the association by individuals and organisations. 

As is tradition, we also acknowledged a number of individuals with fellowships of the association. 

It was particularly pleasing for me that this included Tim Crowley and Jonathan Stevens.

Tim retired from his role as managing director of Mersey Internal Audit Agency earlier this year – a role in which he has made a significant contribution to the development of governance in the NHS.

Jonathan, now the north west regional director of finance, was recognised for his contribution to the technical work of the association. 

As we head into the autumn, a quick look in my diary suggests that I’m going to be clocking a fair number of miles over the next few months. Nine of the 13 HFMA branch conferences take place during this period. 

I hope to see as many of you as possible supporting your branch event, and also at the national conference in early December.

Contact the president on [email protected]