NHS trusts — director of finance

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The role of the director of finance

As with PCTs, acute trust finance directors will be involved with closely monitoring prescribing expenditure. A large part of hospital costs are fixed (ie, buildings and staff), exerting considerable pressure on prescribing budgets. This is despite the fact that the percentage of total trust expenditure on medicines is far less than that of PCTs — only around 20 per cent of the total drugs expenditure in England lies within the acute sector. The drugs that are used in secondary and tertiary care can be very expensive and their use will be carefully monitored.

Building on success: a vision for finance staff in the modern NHS

NHS influencers should expect the role of finance directors to expand to include their involvement as a driver of policy. Where relevant, NHS influencers may need to include finance directors in their account management plans. See Building on success: a vision for finance staff in the modern NHS for further information.