Financial Recovery - IOW

Following a recommendation from NHS Improvement, In-Form Solutions were commissioned to support the Trust which had been placed into Financial Special Measures owing to its deteriorating financial performance. The Isle of Wight NHS Trust has a turnover of c£180m and is the only integrated acute, community, mental health and ambulance care provider in England.  

Operating as the Financial Improvement Director, the work took place over a six month period and aimed to embed a financial improvement and recovery ‘culture’ at the Trust through close working with service and clinical teams, the Finance Team, senior managers, the Trust Board and external advisors.

The key outcomes were:

• A detailed ‘findings’ and actions report to the CEO and FD focused on the key characteristics for any financial improvement plan:
  • Having a coherent Financial (Recovery) Plan (or equivalent) which provides a robust, deliverable and realistic set of actions to secure income, expenditure and cost improvement targets, based on a robust clinical strategy.
  • Having effective governance, systems, processes and leadership in place.
  • Alignment of demand, capacity, activity and workforce to secure the activity needed to deliver the income plan and operational targets.
  • Effective plans, capacity and capability to drive improved clinical productivity and effective patient flow optimization.
  • The delivery of effective workforce plans across all budget holders to reduce the cost of the payroll.
  • Effective corporate, back office and clinical support services.
• Support to the Programme Support Office (PSO) in establishing and developing an effective PSO for the development and delivery of a significant cost improvement programme (CIPS).
• The continuous review and development of annual and longer-term cost improvement plans.
• Development of a robust Financial Recovery Plan and support to the delivery of those plans, including through clinical divisions ‘confirm and challenge’ sessions aimed at establishing ‘local’ ownership and accountability for activity, workforce, financial and CIPS plans.
• Review and advise on the role and best practice for the finance team to support the Financial Recovery Plan.
• Advice on the development of the financial management function to enable it to secure financial improvement.
• Advise and support the Director of Finance to ensure effective leadership of the FRP and handling strategies with NHS Improvement.
• Work with external advisors to develop robust and realistic savings plans.