Every clinical decision is a financial decision. It is vital therefore that clinicians and finance managers work together effectively to ensure that we get the best possible value from every pound spent in the NHS
In a previous post on the PF Blog, I argued that transformation within the NHS needs to happen, and happen fast, in order to build a sustainable health service. In this post, I want to discuss why I believe that to do this, it is essential to have closer collaboration between clinicians and non-clinical teams to create a fit-for-the-future NHS.
At a macro level, as seen within the Healthcare Financial Management Association's recent Two sides of the same coin report, NHS organisations, along with social care and community providers, need to improve their collaborative efforts and embrace more integration for a fit-for-future NHS.
But also, at a micro level, everyone within the NHS needs to work together to understand how to balance quality and finance.
This is because the fortunes of the clinical side of the business, and the patients it treats, are inextricably linked to the work finance teams do. To consider costs without regard for quality is unthinkable; to consider quality without regard for costs is unsustainable.
And, just like their clinical colleagues, the vast majority of those working in NHS finance come into the sector in order to help people and improve patient care.
This hardworking and loyal finance function provides a vital role in improving patient care. And we need to keep it motivated and thriving, something that becomes more and more challenging when certain groups, whether clinicians or the national media, insist on separating out the clinical and non-clinical parts of the NHS and pitting them against each other.
Whoever it might be, the HFMA’s staff attitudes survey shows this can make finance teams feel hugely undervalued.
But a focused and high-quality finance function is key to achieving better outcomes for patients and is something the HFMA is supporting as part of the Future-Focused Finance initiative. It would be a travesty if we were to lose or demotivate the talented, experienced professionals we have, right when the NHS needs them most.
We need to overcome these perceptions and ensure that we ‘know each other’s business’, which is critical to balancing quality and finance. The importance and increasing value of bringing clinical and financial colleagues closer together cannot be overstated and – particularly with the reorganisation still so recent – we must, together, get the most value out of every pound spent.
A key part of this is educating non-finance staff in the sector, as well as patients and the public, about the work the finance function does, and what it achieves for the wider NHS and allows the clinical side to achieve.
But it works both ways, and finance teams must do all they can to understand the clinical side of the business as well as they possibly can. For example, there is a real thirst from clinicians to work with finance staff and NHS managers to turn data into intelligence that can help decision-making and maximise the value of services.
This kind of collaboration between clinical and financial colleagues will only come about through trust, understanding and partnership at all levels.
Taking collective responsibility for finance, quality and operational performance means finance directors trusting medical and nursing directors to develop cost-sensitive plans and identify potential savings, while clinicians need to work jointly with finance directors to set a stable financial envelope in which to make long-term plans to maintain and improve services. This is because every clinical decision is a financial decision.
And, more broadly, NHS boards need to work in partnership to agree on how to spend the resources available to best effect, rather than individual organisations making cost savings in isolation.
The result, I believe, will be high-quality, sustainable healthcare, valued by patients and the public and achieved through transforming the way services are delivered.
Finance professionals are already on this journey, working hard to engage their clinical colleagues to demonstrate how they can best support service transformation and understand the finance implications of the clinical decisions they make.
By doing this, clinical and non-clinical teams will meet the sector’s challenges – ensuring continuous service improvement to meet demand now and in the future, ultimately gaining the best possible value from every pound spent in the NHS.
Paul Briddock is director of policy at the Healthcare Financial Management Association
