Financial Services Manager Review

I am in charge of ensuring the NHS Trust I work for receives the funds it is entitled to, and various ad-hoc tasks. I have to make sure all income is correctly coded and that funds are recovered in a timely manner. I supervise two members of staff on a daily basis and conduct yearly development reviews for them.

I have been given increased responsibility for the Trusts Income AOB submission on the NHS reporting calendar. I have recently taken on various aspects of capital reporting for one of the Trust's larger capital projects. This is something I haven't done a great deal of in the past and will be very useful to my career progression.

I've found it quite enjoyable for the most part. The only times I have felt under excessive pressure is when exam dates have coincided with year end deadlines. This is not the fault of my employer or training provider though. Overall though my employer and training provider have been excellent and only wish I had started the apprenticeship sooner.

The program is well thought out with realistic timetables and goals. The staff at the training provider are helpful and quick to respond to queries. Some aspects do seem a little onerous, like providing evidence of basic key skills in mathematics and English Language when those skills are needed to work in my current role. I would assume this probably a government requirement though.

My line manager has been very helpful and supportive. They have provided me with extra duties to complement my learning and will hopefully allow me to get more experience at higher level work in the future. Our training and development manager was very helpful in setting up the apprenticeship and has always answered any queries I have quickly.

There are frequent check-ins from the apprenticeship coach who reviews progress on a roughly eight week basis. The tutors also check in on a regular basis if it looks you're falling behind or struggling with certain areas. I find this useful at times but sometimes it seems like they're not taking financial deadlines into account.

The course is providing me additional skills to perform my current job better. It is focusing my mind on areas that can be improved on and giving me the skills to implement changes. It also providing me with a greater understanding of how the finance function works in a large organisation in general.

There a few extra-curricular activities that are advertised such as Mindfulness courses and Keep-fit/ Zumba classes. I do not attend any of the officially organised events but was playing badminton on a regular basis with colleagues at the local sports centre on a weekly basis prior to the Covid pandemic

Yes

The Trust has gone through a difficult period but it feels like it has turned a corner. The majority of the staff I work with are dedicated people who like to work for the Trust and there is a good feeling of acceptance in my department. My line manager provides me with the support I need and the department I work in will hopefully provide me with career advancement opportunities.

As with all jobs, do your research. It's always good to turn up with some knowledge about the organisation's past, current and future status. For NHS job applications in general it's a good idea to go through the job specification and state how you meet all the essential skills and, ideally, the desired ones. If you do it in the same order as the requirements are outlined it makes the HR teams jobs easier and they're less likely to miss how you meet the requirements.