By Richard Johnstone | 24 June 2014
A majority of NHS finance directors do not expect the quality of care across the health service to suffer despite the ongoing budget squeeze, a poll has found.
In a survey of 188 NHS finance directors, the Healthcare Financial Management Association found that over half (53%) expect care quality to be maintained, while more than one-third said service quality should improve. This is despite concerns from financial regulator Monitor that the NHS faces a £30bn funding gap to 2021.
The HFMA’s NHS Financial temperature check report also found that 85 NHS organisations (18%) reported a deficit at the end of 2013/14. This was an increase of more than 30 from the number that had planned to run one at the start of the financial year.
Overall 36% of provider trust finance directors were quite or very confident of achieving their financial targets for 2014/15, but 20% were not very or not confident at all.
Finance directors at clinical commissioning groups were more positive, with 54% being quite or very confident that could meet efficiency savings, but still around one-fifth (21%) said they were either not very or not at all confident of hitting the targets.
Looking ahead to 2015/16, just 12% of provider trusts and 25% of CCGs feel quite or very confident that their financial targets will be achieved.
Paul Briddock, director of policy at the HFMA, said: ‘If all things stay equal, the financial outlook looks increasingly challenging, but despite this, it is encouraging to see that finance directors do not see quality deteriorating – in fact, many think quality will improve.
‘However, it is clear that the future success of the NHS depends on the clinically led transformation of services, with support from managers and finance staff. Finance directors are clear that this transformation needs to happen faster than at present and we all need to work together to make this happen effectively.’
The report also found there were concerns about the impact the Better Care Fund will have on NHS spending when it comes into operation from next April. While FDs supported moves to integrate services, only 2% of provider trust finance directors and 11% of CCG chief finance officers thought the fund would help improve their organisation’s services for patients in the first year.
However, the proportion rose to 25% and 62% respectively after the first three years.
