Working in the health sector
If you want your efforts and finance expertise to help make a genuine difference to the health and wellbeing of people living in the UK, then a career in the health services may be ideal for you.
If it is career progression you want, the NHS is also the place to be. No other organisation has more qualified and part qualified accounting positions – across all disciplines. Every town has opportunities for career progression as each will have because at least one hospital and one primary care trust.
Benefits
These can include:
- final salary pension scheme
- flexible working arrangements
- childcare, carer support and life assurance
- greater emphasis on work-life balance.
The NHS has stated its commitment to improving the working lives of staff by offering a well managed, flexible working environment while at the same time offering excellent opportunities for career development. The NHS actively promotes equality and diversity, therefore encouraging applications from all backgrounds, regardless of gender, age, religion or race.
Career options
Strong financial management underpins much of the targets and aims of the NHS. Therefore a wide variety of positions exist within NHS finance departments.
The NHS runs highly regarded training schemes for graduates and studying accountants which ensure that you gain experience across a range of different organisations. You’ll find that variety and challenge are the watchwords – accountants in the NHS generally have broader roles than many of their counterparts in industry.
If you are already qualified, the NHS welcomes applications from staff at all levels in their career and many directors of finance in the NHS come from commercial organisations or other parts of the public sector. There are around 2,000 qualified accountants in the NHS and the opportunities to progress are unlimited as long as they have ambition, talent and dedication.
NHS Finance departments are often structured along similar lines to commercial organisations: a director of finance heads the team followed by a deputy director of finance, a financial accounting manager, a head of financial management and support staff at various levels. Many trusts also utilise shared services for areas such as payroll and financial services functions.
It is entirely possible to progress into supervisory and management roles within and employers may support staff wishing to undertake a Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) qualification.
The Finance Staff Development Programme (FSDP) and The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) also provide members with ongoing support, training and development.
In addition to your qualifications, you’ll need excellent communication skills – you will be advising business managers on budgets, systems and various projects, so your ability to talk finance with non-specialists is critical.
Many organisations use a shared service facility in conjunction with other NHS bodies in order to manage their financial transactions. These create opportunities for individuals with strong process management skills and team leadership abilities.
Whatever stage of career you are at, you will find that the NHS will provide you with a long term career that will be both enjoyable and rewarding.
Case study
Suffolk East PCT is a £300 million organisation tasked with managing local health services for 300,000 people in East Anglia. Julian was appointed director of finance in January 2005, following a successful career in both the commercial and public sectors.
A CIMA qualified graduate of the University of York, also a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, Julian commenced his career with an international pharmaceutical group before joining a US owned multi-billion dollar energy company in 1995. His career progressed rapidly, engaging him in a number of areas, including financial planning, risk management and acquisitions.
Armed with this breadth of knowledge and experience and keen to make the transfer into the public sector, Julian joined a Borough Council in 2003 as head of financial services. Here he was tasked with radically improving financial management and planning in order to help the Council achieve its ambitious targets.
Julian describes his current role as his dream job for a number of reasons. ‘My role is enormously visible. I work under more scrutiny than ever before, but there is no doubt that I can make a difference to patient care in East Anglia. I enjoy the fact that there are so many areas where I can make an impact quickly.’ Julian is no stranger to public relations now and has already been quoted on the front page of the regional press. ‘It’s exciting and challenging to be in the spotlight so much; I’ve had to learn very quickly how to work with the press as the NHS is such an emotive topic for readers.’
