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Local health organisations from across Northern Lincolnshire have been crowned the winner of the governance category at the prestigious annual Healthcare Financial Management Association Awards in central London.

The prestigious annual awards celebrate excellence in financial departments across the NHS and recognised a collaborative working approach across Northern Lincolnshire to manage risks and find solutions to the financial pressures that cannot be mitigated within one organisation.

The 5 finance leaders across the health community; North East Lincolnshire CCG, North Lincolnshire CCG, Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Navigo and Care Plus Group were chosen to receive the accolade from a strong field across the UK. The Awards judge organisations, teams and individual finance professionals by looking at elements including fiscal success, governance, people management, communications, ethics, sustainability and learning.

Laura Whitton, Deputy Chief Finance Officer at North East Lincolnshire CCG said of the achievement:

“We are delighted that this collaborative approach to budgeting across the 5 organisations has been recognised for an award. Health organisations across North and North East Lincolnshire are required to further tighten their purse strings as we continue to deliver a first rate health service. As part of the Northern Lincolnshire Change Programme (Healthy Lives Healthy Futures - HLHF) we recognised that in order to address a projected £104m funding gap by 2018/19, change was needed to incentivise and support delivery of the HLHF programme. We needed to act now with a different approach needed for 2015/16.

“The 5 finance leaders across the North and North East Lincolnshire health community led the implementation of a joint financial planning approach and a different model for managing financial risk and incentives. This involves on-going monitoring of the financial position across the “whole” community on a monthly basis with each of the 5 organisations sharing its latest financial forecast & the risks that need to be managed. Not only does this provide the local community with an up to date picture of our financial position, but provides a firm foundation in order to plan for next year. This new innovative approach has allowed us to start our budget planning for 2016/17 & 2017/18 much earlier, and on a collective basis”

Marcus Hassall, Director of Finance at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We wanted to make sure that our finance teams worked together to understand and solve problems. We have already helped support great innovation in services for patients, and we have a much clearer understanding of financial risk across all our organisations. This means we are doing a better job of protecting taxpayers’ interests. Working jointly is the only way forward.”

Therese Paskell, Director of Finance at North Lincolnshire CCG said “We are delighted to accept this award, which is even more special as it is a product of working with partners in the midst of very challenging financial circumstances. This work has changed the conversation in Northern Lincolnshire.”

HFMA’s new President, Shahana Khan, said: “To be recognised as the best in industry, is always a triumph, but to be recognised as the national best in NHS finance management at this particular time, is a huge achievement. Like the rest of the industry, tonight’s winners have shown outstanding leadership in delivering efficiency savings, demonstrating innovation and improving their services to produce tangible results. This award is well deserved and a testament of the strength and quality of our NHS finance managers.”