Introducing the National Finance Academy by Hardev Virdee

I am delighted to have been asked to Chair the new National Finance Academy (NFA) which we are developing as part of the feedback from the One NHS Finance engagement campaign. Working with Vice Chair – Andrea McGee, Chief Finance Officer & Deputy Chief Executive at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, and the NFA Finance Leadership Group, we are looking forward to building on the already fantastic work that Future-Focused Finance, the Skills Development Networks and HFMA have delivered across the regions, to improve the national offering of finance staff development and training.

For the last couple of years, I have been working closely with senior leaders across London to develop the London Talent Board where our vision is to ‘create, develop and support a leading NHS Finance community for London that reflects the population we serve.’ Equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do as a Talent Board in London, ensuring that all staff at all stages in their career have equal access to development and support opportunities. We will use best practice from the London approach to help us build a national curriculum that we will work with colleagues in each region to roll out locally.

The aim of the NFA is to ensure all staff working at every grade feel supported and have opportunities available to help them progress their careers. Our priorities will focus on career progression, diversity and inclusion, recruitment and retention, and leadership development.

There are already plans under-way which we are looking forward to sharing with you soon – plus there will be opportunities to get involved within task and finish groups to help us develop structured approaches to the priorities listed above. If you would like to register your interest in being involved in the NFA developments, please email finance.academy@nhs.net 

Hardev Virdee works as Group Chief Financial Officer at Barts Health NHS Trust

Find out more about One NHS Finance here.