April 2026 One NHS Finance Team Updates
Welcome to the April One NHS Finance blog. Here you will find all the highlights of our programmes and networks over the last month, and discover opportunities and everything else coming up in the month ahead.
Important Upcoming Dates That You Should Know
Towards Excellence Accreditation submission deadline – April 30, 2026
Has AI changed the way you work? Survey deadline – April 17, 2026
Networks
Last month, 7 network meetings and events took place, including two inspiring EDI sessions. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we held a special panel session spotlighting women across NHS finance, who shared their career journeys. We also heard from colleagues at Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who showcased the success of their EDI celebration day. If you missed these sessions, you can watch them back here: EDI Celebration Day, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT, International Women’s Day 2026, Advancing Women in Finance.
April is #stressawarenessmonth. If stress is affecting you or your team, we have lots of resources available that may help:
- How to Recognise Stress
- Advice from the Mental Health Foundation
- Daily destressing planner
- Signs of stress poster
- NHS Every Mind Matters
- Health & Wellbeing Champion Network
This month, taking place on April 28, 14:00 – 15:00, we have a Health & Wellbeing Showcase Session, which will showcase the ‘Weigh to Go’ healthy lifestyle group at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, exploring how it was created, how it runs, and the positive impact it has had on staff wellbeing. Delegates will gain practical insight into how this supportive approach has benefited individuals and teams, and how it could be replicated in other NHS Trusts. Register here: Health & Wellbeing Showcase Session: Healthy Balance at Mid Yorkshire.
Programmes
Last month, we continued delivering the online sessions as part of the Empowering Women in Leadership programme. Don’t forget, you can register your interest in the programme at any time via the webpage here: Empowering Women in Leadership Programme.
Through the ‘Surviving and Thriving’ initiative, we are pleased to have published a new case study: Making Value the Default Lens for Change. Read it to find out how through the Efficiency, Value & Improvement (EVI) programme, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust reframed savings as an outcome of better care. By Month 8 of 2025, the programme had delivered £14m of in‑year savings, around 60% of which were recurrent, and helped shift the culture from a finance‑driven approach to one where clinicians and operations lead improvement.
If you are located in the London, Midlands or South West regions, applications are open for the Return to Work Programme, designed to support NHS Finance staff who have returned from parental leave within the last six to twelve months. Applications close April 17. To find out more and how to apply, email: finance.academy@nhs.net
Thank you to all who recently submitted innovations as part of Cohort 14; these will be peer reviewed shortly. We are also pleased to have published another 15 NHS finance innovations in the library! This cohort of finance innovations includes a wide range of developments, such as Cash Flow Forecasting, Vacancy Control Panel Automation, and Budget Holder Training. Access them here: NHS Finance Innovations.
Organisations applying to use the EVO (Engagement, Value, Outcome) Framework will now gain access to our newest AI tool, trained on the entire EVO Handbook. Enabling teams to embed the Framework more effectively than ever. We’re also delighted to congratulate University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group on achieving EVO Bronze status! A fantastic achievement, well done to everyone involved.
CALL OUT! We are currently in the process of updating our benchmarking tool for the 2025 NHS Staff Survey results for Finance Directorates. If your organisation would like to be included, please send through your department’s results for each People Promise theme out of 10 to one.finance@nhs.net. View the list of those who are already included here.
That’s a wrap for this month, please download our monthly presentation slides below. Thank you for reading.