April 2024 – Phase 2 successfully completed at Doncaster and Bassetlaw

We’ve recently completed the second phase of the Finance Business Partnering skills development Programme at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust – Core Partnering skills

Over three months, Finance Business Partners have participated in three workshops:

Partnering and value mindset – to understanding core Business Partnering concepts
Self-management and self-leadership – helping them to manage themselves better, particularly, freeing up time to become a more effective FBP
Practical Partnering – understanding how to deploy FBP skills and capabilities in practice, including work with the Trusts’ two Deputy Chief Operating Officers

We also facilitated the development of a priority action plan for participants to implement before the start of the third phase of the Programme in June

Jon Sargeant, the Chief Financial Officer and programme sponsor said:

“The Programme is introducing participants to lots of best practice Finance Business Partnering tools and techniques. I particularly like the way that Garvani Partnering are stimulating the development of a closer relationship between the FBPs and Operational leaders and their emphasis on getting participants to put learning into practice through structured and supported tasks.”

January 2024 – Onboarding successfully completed at Doncaster and Bassetlaw

We’ve recently completed Onboarding, which is the start of the second phase of the Finance Business Partnering skills development Programme at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust

The Onboarding session built upon 1:1 meetings with Finance Business Partners and their customers, to understand both parties’ ambitions for Partnering in the Trust. The workshop also helped familiarise participants with the Programme and the learning approach

The session also included a talk and a Q&A session with the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, highlighting the value of Partnering and providing visible support and commitment from Operations to the implementation of Partnering

Participants commented that they valued engagement from the Chief Operating Officer and getting assurance of support in becoming better Business Partners was excellent

December 2023 – Phase 1 successfully completed at Doncaster and Bassetlaw

We’ve recently completed the first phase of the Finance Business Partnering skills development Programme at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust.

We delivered interactive workshops with the Finance Business Partners and the Reporting team to help them understand what Partnering is, what Finance Business Partners do and how their teams should work in future.

Drawing on a range of best practice, we then helped both teams co-produce a value-based model of the role of their teams, which they could use to:

Promote the role of the Finance Business partner within Finance and the organisation
Stimulate changes in working practices between the FBP and Reporting teams

Participants commented that:

There was an informal and friendly atmosphere
They understood better about how Finance was developing and the benefits of implementing Finance Business Partnering
It was useful to have team input on how the team should be run
The workshops were well explained and encouraged input
Delivery was good and insightful

November 2023 – IMA successfully completed at Doncaster and Bassetlaw

We’ve recently completed the Initial Maturity Assessment for Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust.

We interviewed a mix of senior Finance and operational staff leaders to understand how developed Finance Business Partnering is from both a Finance and Operational perspective

The report showed that both Finance and Operations see the value and benefits of Finance Business Partnering. The challenge now, is to put a strong foundation in place to facilitate the development and practical implementation of Partnering across the Trust

Jon Sargeant, the Chief Financial Officer and programme sponsor said:

“This was a balanced and insightful report, highlighting both the challenges we’ve faced and the progress that we’ve made to develop Partnering since Covid. What I valued most was the clear recommendations and the support Garvani Partnering have provided to help us put Finance Business Partnering into practice”

June 2022 – King’s Programme successfully completed

June saw the successful close of the Finance Business Partner development Programme at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The journey lasted nearly a year, ending with a workshop where the participants reflected on the Programme, highlighting the learning they found most effective.

Go to the page “What people say” to hear comments from participants and Arthur Vaughan, Deputy CFO at King’s and the Programme’s sponsor.

May 2022 – This is what Finance leaders are saying

Our 2022 Finance leaders’ survey shows the NHS is in the toughest operating environment ever. They said:

The NHS environment is the toughest it’s ever been, with radical change needed
Finance Business Partners should initiate solution development – not just react to it
People and business skills are as important as Finance and accounting skills

The survey results show that:

Investing in people and Partnering should be an integral element of NHS organisations’ responses to the unprecedented challenges they face
Equipping Finance Business Partners with people and business skills, will help organisations successfully respond to the challenges they face and improve patient care.

Since March, we’ve begun discussions with a number of Finance leaders to explore how Garvani Partnering could work with their teams, to help them develop their Partnering skills.

We hope you find the results of the survey helps highlight the need to, and benefits of, investing in people and Partnering – the full brochure can be downloaded below:

Survey results

March 2022 – Finance Leaders’ survey

We’re starting a programme of engagement with NHS Finance leaders to understand how Finance Business Partners can help the NHS successfully address its priorities, and the skills needed to do this effectively.

Our engagement includes a survey which asks leaders:

What are your top three priorities for 2022/23?
What should Finance Business Partners do to address these priorities?
What skills do Finance Business Partners need to effectively address these priorities?

We’d love to get your insights, so please participate in the survey. Remember, all responses are anonymous.

We’ll feedback next month once we’ve collated responses.

Here’s the brochure that accompanies our engagement

Invest in people

New for 2022 – Initial Maturity Assessment

From January 2022, all our Programmes will start with an Initial Maturity Assessment (IMA) – a collaborative review that helps us understand how developed Finance Business Partnering is, from both a Finance and Operational perspective. Using this insight, we’ll formulate recommendations to make the Programme work effectively.

The IMAs recommendations will help the joint Programme Delivery Team to:

Develop strong buy in to the Programme, so it’s valued by participants and the wider organisation
Tailor the Programme to participants’ development needs, which help them formulate and deliver more value added services for their customers
Encourage Operational Leaders to contribute to workshops, providing “real world” input to make learning relevant and impactful

The IMA will build a strong foundation for the Programme, creating momentum that’s focused on delivering the right skills and positive learning outcomes for Finance, participants, and the organisation