Deputy Business Support Accountant

at  Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

The Deputy Business Support Accountant (DBSA) will work with the Business Support Accountant (BSA) to provide a financial and performance management support role to various Directorates and Specialities at all levels up to and including VSM’s.
To help co-ordinate the provision of timely, accurate and relevant information to meet all reporting standards and deadlines.
To support the department in the pro-active running and development of the Financial Management function of the BSPS pathology network and ensuring that a professional and dynamic service is provided across the BSPS to the Operational Management Teams, individual budget holders and other relevant officers in the BSPS.
To deputise for the BSA as appropriate across a range of strategic and operational issues as and when required.
Good verbal communication and presentation skills including the ability to explain
highly complex financial issues to non-finance staff.
Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.
Ability to draw together a range of disparate and complex information in order to identify options and make decisions.
Able to identify and respond to emerging problems, have an inquisitive nature, be comfortable to challenge the status quo.
Able to manage own workload, working to tight and often changing timescales whilst considering and applying new ideas and directives to improve services.
Ability to promote actively equality, diversity and inclusion within all areas of responsibility.
There’s never been a more exciting time to build your career at Frimley Health, one of the country’s largest and most respected trusts
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.
We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.
We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment .
Our three core values , and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other.
If you have a passion for clinical excellence, patient care and your own career development, you’ll feel at home at Frimley Health.
1. Provide financial expertise, advice, and assistance to all budget managers, actively supporting the achievement of the BSPS’s strategic objectives. This includes providing advice to managers on the best use of resources and proposing/developing/improving processes and policies which impact on areas beyond their own area of activity.
2. Manage the preparation of monthly financial and performance management reports to the Senior Teams, with responsibility to ensure all financial data is accurate. This frequently requires prolonged concentration to ensure that reports are produced within the timetable stipulated.
3. Monitor the Specialities performance against targets, giving robust explanations of variances on finance and activity and the possible effects of operational issues (for example- pay, non-pay & income).
4. Regularly meet and present financial information to support budget managers/GMs on financial issues. Negotiate, persuade, and recommend appropriate action to be taken.
5. Contribute fully to the planning processes of the Business Units. This includes the annual business and financial planning round, ensuring all budget managers are involved in the process and are engaged with their budget.
6. Initiate budget reviews in line with operational changes, engaging with budget
holders in the process. For example, adjusting budgets to reflect transfer of services to another speciality or activity, or assessing the affordability of proposed alterations to staff skill mix.
7. Support the development of individual business cases by providing costing information and complex financial analysis. This may involve comparing a range of options and advising which option provides the best outcome. Support the successful implementation of plans once approved, ensuring value for money.
8. Support the BSA and Budget Holders in co-ordinating Cost Improvement Plans (CIPs) and service improvements in Specialities. This includes identifying potential savings, quantifying the financial benefit, ensuring value for money, and identifying methods of increasing market share of the services.
9. Interpret performance and prepare schedules detailing CIP achievements and help to find mitigations where needed
10. Provide financial training to non-finance managers, to develop financial management skills within the specialities of BSPS network. This includes “technical” competencies (such as interpreting financial reports) as well as explaining the implications of wider financial policies (such as cost per test and BSPS SFIs/Establishment Control Policies and Procedures).
11. Support the BSA in ensuring that Budget Holders of specialities are monitoring their financial performance by identifying business risks and agreeing and then monitoring corrective action to reduce the risks with key operational staff where required.
12. Provide detailed costs, complex financial analysis and other relevant information to the budget GMs and Business Office team where needed.
13. Assist in the development of the Finance Function, including the development of financial management skills and competencies within the finance team and the other areas.
14. Continually identify and implement improvements to the finance functions, systems and processes are carried out properly
15. Maintain effective working relationships with senior management, BSPS finance function, as well partner Trusts, the BSPS Executive, and external auditors.
16. Give and receive highly complex information and adhere to BSPS rules and procedures concerning confidentiality when dealing with sensitive and contentious issues. For example. Explaining the link between clinical activity and costs. Understanding NHS contracts and Non-NHS contracts (MSC Contracts), understand and interpret commissioning rules.
17. Co-ordinate, monitor and review own activities and support the team to optimise the use of resources, ensuring that the activities of the section are completed in a professional manner and within an agreed timetable. This includes cross cover to other teams within Business Support if required.
18. Deputise for the BSA regularly. In absence of BSA, supervise the team including Finance Analyst & Senior Finance Analysts.
19. Any other duties commensurate with the grade, to be agreed with the post-holder

Please refer the Job description for details