Our Transformation Unit supported an integrated care system (ICS) to develop a financial framework that ensured a consistent approach across all its transformation programmes, ensuring progress and momentum.
Finance is changing in the NHS. The focus is shifting from organisational financial sustainability to system sustainability. Organisations are working ever closer together to provide better population focused health care.
This creates potential financial benefits for organisations, for example leveraging economies of scale. It also requires a paradigm shift.
System change programmes will have different financial implications for affected partners.
Northamptonshire ICS required support to:
• develop a financial framework to support system transformation programmes
• ensure progress and momentum across system transformation programmes.
Our first step was to work with the system directors of finance to develop a financial framework. We then supported the appointment of finance leads for each of its transformation programmes. A key focus of our support was to enable the finance leads to implement the framework.
One flagship programme, focusing on integration, needed business case approval. We helped articulate both the benefits and the financial implications of the programme. This involved working through difficult conversations that require significant maturity of system working.
The co-produced financial framework helps ensure a consistent approach across all transformation programmes.
The system also approved the business case of the flagship integration programme, which is now being implemented and is helping reduce avoidable admissions.