The Primary Care Trust's (PCT's) Finance Team created a comprehensive training programme for staff with a financial remit. This ensures that these staff, who include budget managers and senior managers, are fully aware of their responsibilities and have the skills to enable them to fulfil their role. This increased understanding and awareness has resulted in a significant improvement in the financial data being used by the PCT.
The training programme includes the following:
Leadership programme
The PCT runs a one-day financial training workshop that is compulsory for all budget managers and senior managers. The workshop focuses on the financial strategy within the organisation and how the management of budgets is key to this process. The workshop gives attendees an understanding on how they fit into the financial responsibilities of the organisation as a whole and how they can influence the organisation.
Induction courses
All new members of staff are required to have an induction course before they start working for the PCT. As part of this induction, a presentation is given on the Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions to ensure that all new staff are fully aware of the corporate governance arrangements. In addition, the Standing Financial Instructions detail the financial responsibilities, policies and procedures adopted by the PCT.
Financial services users support
The PCT has developed an internal training pack for staff using the financial system (Oracle). The training is undertaken in a variety of settings and includes a hands-on approach where all trainees are given access to terminals during the training. This pack has now been shared with the NHS Shared Business Service, promoting how the PCT undertakes training as exemplary.
Regular budget manager meetings
At the start of each financial year the PCT produces an annual budget setting guide, including the methodology for budget setting. The Finance team then meet with the budget manager to ensure they understand their responsibilities and their individual budget. Throughout the financial year a series of meetings are held with each budget manager, the frequency of which are evaluated with a risk-based approach. The meetings are used to address variances against their budgets and to create an action plan to manage any differences.
As a result of this work, budget managers and senior managers now have a more complete understanding of the overall financial strategy of the organisation. They also have excellent links and communication with the Finance team. In addition, any variances against budgets have been notified in a timely manner and action plans developed to address these variances. This has also resulted in a significant improvement in the financial data being used by the PCT.