Thursday 26th June, 2014

It's been over a year since the reorganisation of the NHS in England, and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) took a review of the attitudes of their members.

Amid the backdrop of financial pressures (it is estimated that the NHS in England needs to find £30bn of savings by 2020-21) the results were telling, especially when it comes to how finance staff feel they are perceived by clinical colleagues and the general public. As reported in an article by HFMA Policy and Technical Director, Paul Briddock in The Guardian - while 89% feel highly valued by their line managers and a further 69% by their boards, 39% don't feel clinicians appreciate the contribution they make to the sector.

However, the finance function has a crucial role to play in the NHS. On the transactional side, finance professionals keep the business side of large local organisations ticking over – at the most basic level, staff and invoices get paid. But the finance role is much bigger than this. Finance professionals have a huge role to play in governance, accountability, annual reports and keeping accounts that inform public sector funding decisions in the future.

Perceived attitudes of those beyond the hospital doors were even more worrying as only 30% of finance staff feel valued by their national government health department, falling to 18% for patients and only 17% by the public. One finance manager even admitted it was "tricky" to tell a stranger where they worked, and this in part was exacerbated by media pillorying of managers within the NHS.

In contrast to some perceptions, most finance professionals questioned were motivated to stay in their role due to public sector values (70%) or "the opportunity to improve services for patients" (60%), demonstrating that financial staff, despite what may be reflected by public opinion, are as committed to public service aims as the clinicians they employ. So to move forward, perhaps a broader understanding of healthcare finance is required?

The research also showed that job satisfaction was high (6.8 out of 10) and increased with seniority – a reassuring sentiment to hear in a time of mounting pressure and flux. There were a number of factors which keep staff morale strong; one is the opportunities the NHS provides for them to take on new roles and challenges.

But there will only be a fit-for-the-future NHS if clinicians and healthcare financial professionals work together as a team.