News / HFMA 2014: Working together crucial to delivery, says Alexander

Mr Alexander was speaking the day after the autumn statement confirmed an additional £2bn for the NHS in 2015/16. 'We've got to recognise this is positive news for the service in the context of the public finances overall,' he told finance managers. 'But it will come
with some strings - although that doesn't necessarily mean more targets.'

He explained that it was 'bound to' require health economies to 'address current service delivery shortcomings' and address the 'financial difficulties in parts of your systems'. He added that this could only be delivered if organisations worked together.

'It becomes crucial that providers and commissioners have an agreed view of what is going on in their systems and properly align demand, capacity and what needs to be done for service delivery and execute it,' he said.

Mr Alexander said organisations in many health economies were working well together, but this was not the case everywhere. 'I encounter too many examples where the relationships between providers and commissioners are not as productive as they should be. Provider teams that are too quick to blame all their ills on commissioners and commissioners too keen to issue fines and criticise providers than to get alongside and work with them.'

He warned that it would be 'all too easy to get into what might look like an arms race'. While short term strategies might help individual bottom lines today, they would not help health systems tomorrow. Mr Alexander described it as a game called 'who fails first'.