NHSBSA wins in the HFMA National Healthcare Finance Awards 2020

The ceremony was held on Thursday 10 December and recognises the work of finance teams and individuals from across the UK.

The Overcoming Adversity award is a brand-new award for 2020, focussing on how finance teams have overcome the very significant challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and supported their NHS organisation’s activities. This is a fantastic achievement for the NHSBSA as the category was the ‘most oversubscribed award’ in terms of nominations in HFMA history.

To support the national coronavirus (COVID-19) response, the NHSBSA collaborated at pace with Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and other Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) to stand up over thirty different services. Some of the activity involved in response to the pandemic includes:

• informing at-risk patients,
• a self-isolation text service
• Nightingale network connectivity
• keyworker testing
• COVID-19 Status Checker
• a text messaging service for the NHSBT convalescent plasma trial
• re-purposing our contact centre to handle over 20% of emergency 111 calls
• updating Electronic Staff Record (ESR) to record COVID-19 absence
• cash flow support for pharmacists.

Steve Oldfield (DHSC Commercial Director General, Oct 2020) said: “No other central body in the health system has stood up and acted in the way the NHSBSA has in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic”.

The judges noted that, “the team, at the start of the pandemic, took the time to consider and reflect how the finance team’s services and skills could be put to best use to make an impact. The finance team often acts as an enabler and this was the case with some of the changes that needed to be made at a national level in responding to the crisis.

The team has successfully engaged with other organisations in the NHS to show the value that an Arm’s Length Body (ALB) can provide to patients and service. They are now looking to use this collaboration as a springboard for further work with other organisations using the skills and services that they provide as well as the data that they hold.”