By Vivienne Russell | 4 December 2014
Almost 90% of NHS finance managers believe that the additional £2bn for the health service next year is insufficient, according to a snap survey carried out by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Figures revealed at the HFMA’s annual conference in London today showed that 47% of the more than 300 members who responded to the poll earlier this week thought the health service needed more funding.
Another 41% said they believed the funds were insufficient but acknowledged that it was all that could be expected in the current circumstances.
When asked what the extra funds should be spent on, pump priming for transformation emerged as the most popular area, with 44% of respondents citing it as a priority area for extra funding. A quarter (24%) said it should be used to lower efficiency requirements.
HFMA president Andy Hardy said it was ‘really positive’ that the single largest response was for pump priming transformation.
‘What that does show is that, as finance professionals, we absolutely recognise that we’ve got to change the way we do things,’ he told delegates.
‘If there is extra money coming into the service how do we use some of that to give ourselves headroom to do things differently, to meet patients needs going forward with the budget we’ve got.’
Bob Alexander, director of finance at the NHS Trust Development Authority, told the conference that, notwithstanding whether the £2bn was enough or not, it was ‘positive news’ when viewed in the context of the public finances as a whole.
He used his address to call for better communication and understanding between NHS commissioners and providers, saying it was crucial that they have an agreed view of what is going on in the system.
Alexander said he still encountered too many examples of places where the relationship between providers and commissioners was not as productive as it should be.
‘Provider teams are too quick to blame all their ills on commissioners, and commissioners too keen to issue fines and criticise provider than get alongside and work with them.’
He warned against getting into an ‘arms race’, in which providers chased down every opportunity to charge and commissioners following a strategy about finding ways not to pay for services that are being provided.
‘It might help individual bottom lines today, but it won’t help your health system tomorrow. Pursuing strategies like that is a game that I’ve called “who fails first”.’
