Published: 13 July 2009
Guide to Finance for Hospital Doctors
Doctors must learn the basics of NHS finance to help drive greater efficiency and better outcomes for patients, according to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the Audit Commission.
The new Guide to Finance for Hospital Doctors is a practical manual that aims to help hospital doctors get to grips with the way the money works in the health service. It is especially useful for medical students and doctors in the early stages of their careers.
The guide is not about focusing on cost alone.
It is about how money can best be used to improve the quality of care, combining operational and clinical effectiveness. Efficient use of resources and good quality services go hand-in-hand.
Chapters in the guide explain how the money works in the NHS;
· trust finance regimes
· managing a budget
· making the best of the money available
· further sources of information
· and a glossary of NHS financial terminology
The authors of the guide say that through greater involvement of clinicians the NHS can achieve better value for money and even better outcomes for patients.
Steve Bundred, Chief Executive of the Audit Commission, said:
“We all know that most NHS doctors do a fantastic job but we cannot ignore the fact that the NHS is a £100 billion organisation and it is the doctors who dictate where the cash goes.
We don't need doctors to be accountants, but I've no doubt we can drive greater efficiency to benefit patients if doctors become more familiar with how the money works”.
Professor Dame Carol Black, Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said:
“It is essential that doctors, who are responsible for spending money when caring for their patients, understand and engage with the way that money is spent.
This really useful guide shows how the quality of care can be improved when doctors and finance specialists work together with a common aim and a united approach”.
The new guide follows a joint statement on clinicians and finance from the Commission and the Academy, along with the Royal College of Nursing, the NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation, the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the Department of Health.
The statement on clinicians & finance was also endorsed by Lord Darzi, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, who said:
“My review is very clear: that as well as harnessing the skills of health professionals in making tough clinical decisions, the NHS needs to bring their expert judgement to bear on difficult financial and management decisions that impact on patient care.
Only then will the NHS realise its full potential”.
The new guide will help doctors engage with NHS finance specialists and it contains case studies from Gloucestershire, London, Bolton and Plymouth that illustrate how better understanding of the money can help transform services. It also contains a useful glossary explaining the language of NHS finance.
Further information
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
Audit Commission – A guide to finance for hospital doctors
NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation
Healthcare Financial Management Association
February 2009 clinicians and finance statement
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