Background information
My name is John Chapman, and I am the Associate Director of Finance – Accounting and Governance at Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV). I was always strong at Maths in school which led to every career conversation leading me down the role of accounting, so being the independent thinker that I am, I studied Finance at Northumbria University prior to following my pre-determined career destiny…
My mother was a midwife and my father a decorator, the virtues of the NHS were drummed into me from an early age, and I had always wanted my career to support its continuing delivery. I grew up local to the Trusts that I currently work in – in fact I have since worked in the room that I was born in (now a finance office!).
Career path
After leaving university I needed to get my first role in finance to provide me with experience to support applications for trainee roles. I worked in accounts payable and treasury for an international engineering firm, and during my first year of working here I was offered a placement on the NHS graduate scheme.
Though based in the Northeast, my initial offer was for a placement in Lincoln, so I was preparing to uproot up until a couple of months before I was due to start, when a shared placement between TEWV FT (mental health) and North Tees FT (acute) was offered, based close to my home.
I had a typical NHS finance graduate experience, trying to add value at every placement, but often moving onto pastures new once I had picked up the required level of knowledge to perform. Looking back this was probably a key factor that supported my resilience development.
Following the graduate scheme, I joined North Tees FT permanently on a project accountant role and progressed through to Head of Central Financial Management and Planning.
An opportunity came up at TEWV FT as Financial Controller which I thought would be just out of my reach, but I applied and to my surprise I was successful. I now had to quickly learn how to do the job and prove that my new colleagues had made the correct decision! This was in 2012, and I have remained at TEWV in various roles ever since, with me now holding the role of Associate Director of Finance.
I didn’t plan to spend so much of my career in one organisation, but the colleagues I work with both inside and outside of the finance department have made it hard to leave by being so supportive. I also feel blessed to work for an organisation that strives to deliver improvements to its population health, at no point have I ever felt that patients are not the top priority for TEWV, which is a big factor for me.
When I look back for highlights there is no single piece of work that stands out; the biggest highlight to me is that the finance teams I have worked in have continued to develop and deliver on a consistent basis over my career to date (and no doubt long before I arrived). Continuing to meet deadlines with accuracy (be it reporting, payroll submission, annual accounts etc.) is a big achievement for teams, especially with internal and external pressures, and continuing development of systems and information requests.
My current role
A typical day in my current role involves speaking to my team to provide them with any support and direction they need, writing reports (ensuring they are accessible by non-finance colleagues), liaising with corporate and clinical colleagues and ensuring day-to-day requirements are being met. I consider the longer-term implications of actions / decisions and provide technical expertise as required.
I feed constructive challenge into the current way of doing things and continually strive for us to be more efficient. I have instilled a culture of learning from errors / re-work, and a big part of our improvement journey is understanding data flows and working with non-finance colleagues to increase their knowledge of governance / system feeders, which reduces corrective (non value adding) work required within finance.
Personal development
Personal development is something I place great value in and support my teams to access. SDN / HfMA / ONF courses are the primary route for training courses, but every task, situation and conversation can be used to enhance knowledge and skills.
I learn from everyone I work with – I copy their approach for things that I like, and if there is anything I dislike I take action so that I don’t repeat it. I have been very fortunate to have worked with several nationally recognised directors, the key learning from them that I highlight to my team is their ability to remain calm and focused under immense scrutiny and pressure.
Work-life balance
Maintaining a work life balance isn’t easy, but it is essential. Understanding resilience through training courses has been a huge help, and I would recommend everyone accesses this.
I try to be pro-active to support a work life balance, controlling what I can control so that I don’t add unnecessary pressure onto myself. In my role a big part of this is supporting my teams work life balance, as I am only as good in my role as the team supporting me.
The Covid pandemic was a big learning curve for me, as working from home I realised that locking my computer didn’t allow me to fully switch off and relax on an evening. I need to shut down my laptop, and then I am able to focus on my family and hobbies.
Reflections
I wanted a career in NHS Finance, and it hasn’t failed to deliver. Despite the quirks of national operating frameworks being frustrating at times working in a provider organisation, I take great satisfaction in the knowledge that my work has a positive impact on society, and that I contribute to the ongoing and future success of the greatest healthcare system in the world.
I wouldn’t change a day of it.