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Job Roles

The NHS is not one big organisation but rather a number of separate organisations which try to work together to deliver care to the population. We also know that health is influenced by lots of factors outside of the control of the NHS and so we also try to work alongside local councils, social services and the voluntary sector to make good decisions for local people. That means a role in NHS finance can take you from your local hospital, into commissioning via a Integrated Care Board (ICB) or into a regional or national role as part of NHS England or as part of one of the organisations that support specific parts of the NHS like the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) or the NHS Pensions Agency.

 

NHS finance staff make sure that our budgets are spent wisely and for the benefit of our patients.  Finance Staff in the NHS tend to work in four main areas:

  • Financial Services – where they manage the cash and make the payments to Suppliers
  • Financial Accounts – where they ensure that everything is accounted for correctly
  • Management Accounts – who work with other NHS departments providing financial advice and guidance to them.
  • Procurement & Supplies – where they manage the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products and equipment to end-user departments.

Finance staff in the NHS will usually work towards a finance related qualification.   Of course being an qualified accountant isn’t for everyone and you can stop at different levels. Paid between Band 2 – 6 (up to £39k).

Being a fully qualified accountant means you can work in a range of fields, you can move between the different fields. Paid between Band 7 – 9 (c£39k – £100k)

Different roles within NHS Finance

Finance Apprentice – A Finance Apprentice learns about all the different roles across the finance department and study professional exams you can read more about apprenticeships here.

Accounts Payable – Accounts Payable check the invoices received to the goods and services that have been ordered, and if they match they release them for payment, if they don’t they work with suppliers and departments to resolve things.

Accounts Receivable – Accounts Receivable send invoices out to make sure that the organisation has enough cash to pay its staff and suppliers.

Supply Chain Assistant – A Supply Chain Assistant replenishes clinical consumables needed for the treatment of our patients ensuring that we do not under, or over-stock products.

Accountancy Assistant – An accountancy assistant makes sure that all the financial transactions have been carried out properly.

Procurement Officer – A Procurement Officers role is to source goods and consumables needed to treat our patients and keep our hospital running, ensuring value for money.

Management Accountant – Every department has their own budget to spend on staff, goods and services.  A Management Accountant produces the monthly reports that tell our budget holders how much they have spent and whether they are overspent or not.

Cost Accountant – A Cost Accountant works with the financial data to work out how much each procedure that we carry out costs us, by looking at how much time was spent, what drugs were used, and how long the patient stayed in hospital.

Buyer – A Buyer ensures all orders are placed on time with suppliers and transacted correctly supporting and providing advice on ordering systems to staff.

Business Partner – Business Partners work with departmental managers as their financial advisor.  They interpret and use financial information to influence and shape their services and their business plans.

Chief Finance Officer – The CFO is at the heart of the organisation’s management structure and play a key role in corporate decision making, ensuring the organisation gets best value from its limited resources.

Find out more about different roles in an NHS Finance Department

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