North Ambulance Trust voted best finance team by peers
Finance team awarded for handling successful merger of four former NHS trusts, and now serving the UK's largest and most complex ambulance service
A finance team from the North Ambulance Service NHS Trust has been voted the
best by its peers.
The team was awarded the Healthcare Financial Management Association Accounts
Team of the Year, in recognition of the way the team handled the financial
implications of a merger of four previous ambulance trusts.
The merger resulted in the new trust being the largest, busiest, most diverse
and complex ambulance service in England.
The merger also meant an in-house finance function restructure, with a
migration to a consolidated ledger and the need to ensure business continuity.
In total, in the 13 months ended 31st April 2007 the accounts team prepared
and had audited 13 sets of accounts, with minimal adjustments, against the
backdrop of limited merger accounting guidance and at a time of significant
personal and professional uncertainty and system change.
‘Staff were fully engaged and consulted in the design of new structures and,
despite the inevitable change, uncertainty and individual insecurity, showed
incredibly high levels of commitment and professionalism,’ said finance director
Diane Hardwick.
Judge David Flory, director general of finance and performance, Department of
Health said: ‘The North West Ambulance Service entry really demonstrated the
meaning of “team”. They achieved something fantastic through team-working that
otherwise would not have been possible.’