To work alongside / cross cover the lead and work as part of the team to provide the Trust’s management teams with a high quality comprehensive financial advisory service on all aspects of Income and activity. Advising and influencing management teams, covering large and particularly high risk budgets, on the implications of highly complex financial strategy and policy on behalf of the Head of Income and Costing.
Initially the focus of the role will be to learn, maintain and develop the Trust in house patient level SLAM (service level agreement monitoring) system.
The purpose of the job is to:
- Manage the routine production and reporting of finance and activity values for all Service Level Agreements (contracts) that the Trust has with NHS commissioners.
- Develop and maintain of finance & information systems/processes that support invoicing and debt control for Service Level Agreements.
- Support the Head of Costing & Income in the derivation of contract prices and provide information to support Service Level Agreement (contract) negotiations and monitoring.
- Reconciliation of Trust income & activity with SUS data, agree charges & refunds as appropriate.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust is an integrated Trust and the only provider of NHS acute care in Walsall, serving a population of 284,300, providing inpatient and outpatient services at the Manor Hospital as well as a wide range of services in the community. Walsall Manor houses the full range of district general hospital services under one roof. The £170 million development was completed in 2010 and the continued upgrading of existing areas ensures the Trust now has a state-of-the-art Critical Care Unit, Neonatal Unit, Obstetric Theatre, and Integrated Assessment Unit facilities.
A new Urgent Emergency Care Centre was opened in March 2023. The two-storey development has significantly improved emergency care facilities and capacity and has provided almost 5,000 square metres of additional clinical space.
Key Responsibilities
INCOME
1. Prepare highly complex monthly performance data for contract income to prescribed standards and timescales for internal and external stakeholders.
2. Analyse and explain significant variations from SLA contract income and activity plans. This involves making judgements on highly complex facts which requires analysis, interpretation & comparison of a range options.
3. Develop, maintain, refine and document local databases, spreadsheets and systems and processes for calculating, reporting and forecasting SLA /contract income for all Commissioners. Revise as necessary for annual changes in guidance/tariffs
4. Provide monthly financial statements to commissioners on SLA income covering both PbR / NTPSand non-PbR against an agreed timescale, liaising with staff in information services and other departments to comply with National guidance, ensure that data is available so that agreed timescales can be met
5 In liaison with the debtors function, raise invoices and credit notes as appropriate in order to recover income due from Commissioners – contracted and non -contracted.
6. Establish and maintain good working relationships through regular contact with ICBs, CSUs other organisations responsible for commissioning healthcare services.
7. Work closely with CSU, ICB and Information Services colleagues to reconcile SLAM data with CSU income data based on SUS and to minimise data queries.. Highlight any consequent risks to income as early as possible in the process.
8. Ensure the integrity and consistency of financial coding within the general ledger i.e. income is properly coded
9. Produce projections of activity & financial data (when required) to enable a realistic financial forecast to be generated. This will demand abilities in assessing and forming opinions around risk and imperfect information. This includes promoting and suggesting corrective actions for departments providing data. This involves planning and organising complex data feed & manipulation on an on-going basis as problems are encountered, work around solutions have to be developed.
10 Support the Head of Costing & Income and Contracting and Costing Accountant in developing community based clinical services provided by the Trust into appropriate activity and currencies with healthcare commissioners.
11. Support with the production of Service Line Reporting from an income perspective and wider support on an adhoc basis
PAYMENT BY RESULTS / National Tariff Payment System
12. Keep up-to-date with the latest NHS financial regime changes, interpreting national policy and regulations, communicating issues to the relevant staff within the Trust.
13. Develop the reporting of contract income budgets to Trust managers under Payment by Results (PbR) / NTPS against agreed timescales. This involves production of project plans & procedures which impact across the finance department and on the Trust’s financial plans
14. Understand how national costing and funding models affect the business and be able to explain these to clinical and non-clinical staff.
15. Understand and assist with modelling income and input into business cases and modelling lead by Head of Costing & Income. This includes developing and implementing modelling spreadsheets and databases to produce activity projections to support contract discussions.
16. Responsible for developing financial policies & procedures in the area of PbR/NTPS and costing which impact on other areas of the organisation
