News / HFMA stalwarts in Queen’s honours
Former HFMA president Tony Whitfield has been awarded an OBE for services to the NHS.
Mr Whitfield (pictured), who was association president in 2013 and who recently stepped down as finance director of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, published over the weekend. Louise Shepherd, a former NHS finance director and currently chief executive of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, was also awarded a CBE for services to healthcare.
Mr Whitfield spent 34 years working in NHS finance including 25 as a finance director at St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and then Leeds. He was involved in a number of national programmes and activities including being the finance and costing lead on NHS England’s seven-day services forum in 2013.
Passionate about the potential for costing data in the NHS to inform improvement and transformation, he led the HFMA’s early work to support the adoption of patient-level costing across the service. An early proponent of the need to develop new models of care, he used his year as association president to encourage a better mutual understanding between clinicians and finance practitioners of each other’s work. And he has been a consistent and enthusiastic supporter of finance skills development.
Mr Whitfield said he was ‘touched and surprised’ by the award. ‘It is particularly moving to realise that people have nominated me for this honour,’ he said. ‘I am delighted and humbled by it and I know that it is also recognition of the teams I have worked with and of the wider finance community. The NHS involves a team of people working on the frontline and in support services and finance has a significant role to play in that overall team.’
A former finance director at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust, Ms Shepherd joined Alder Hey in 2008 from Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, where she was also chief executive. She was made an honorary fellow of the HFMA in 2008 to recognise significant contributions to the association at branch and national level, including a spell as national honorary treasurer.
Alder Hey chair Sir David Henshaw described Ms Shepherd as ‘an outstanding chief executive of her generation’, having made an ‘immense contribution to the NHS over 23 years’.
HFMA chief executive Mark Knight said the awards were fully deserved. 'I'm absolutely delighted that two honorary fellows of HFMA have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list,’ he said. ‘Both Louise and Tony have made an enormous contribution to the NHS and to the association.’
Mr Whitfield (pictured), who was association president in 2013 and who recently stepped down as finance director of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, published over the weekend. Louise Shepherd, a former NHS finance director and currently chief executive of Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, was also awarded a CBE for services to healthcare.
Mr Whitfield spent 34 years working in NHS finance including 25 as a finance director at St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and then Leeds. He was involved in a number of national programmes and activities including being the finance and costing lead on NHS England’s seven-day services forum in 2013.
Passionate about the potential for costing data in the NHS to inform improvement and transformation, he led the HFMA’s early work to support the adoption of patient-level costing across the service. An early proponent of the need to develop new models of care, he used his year as association president to encourage a better mutual understanding between clinicians and finance practitioners of each other’s work. And he has been a consistent and enthusiastic supporter of finance skills development.
Mr Whitfield said he was ‘touched and surprised’ by the award. ‘It is particularly moving to realise that people have nominated me for this honour,’ he said. ‘I am delighted and humbled by it and I know that it is also recognition of the teams I have worked with and of the wider finance community. The NHS involves a team of people working on the frontline and in support services and finance has a significant role to play in that overall team.’
A former finance director at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust, Ms Shepherd joined Alder Hey in 2008 from Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, where she was also chief executive. She was made an honorary fellow of the HFMA in 2008 to recognise significant contributions to the association at branch and national level, including a spell as national honorary treasurer.
Alder Hey chair Sir David Henshaw described Ms Shepherd as ‘an outstanding chief executive of her generation’, having made an ‘immense contribution to the NHS over 23 years’.
HFMA chief executive Mark Knight said the awards were fully deserved. 'I'm absolutely delighted that two honorary fellows of HFMA have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list,’ he said. ‘Both Louise and Tony have made an enormous contribution to the NHS and to the association.’
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