Financial and Operational Resource Management at Care South Group

The report delves into the critical aspects of managing financial resources at Care South Group care home. It emphasizes how careful management of finances can aid in making informed decisions that enhance both operational efficiency and service delivery. The discussion extends to understanding regulatory requirements, budget planning, and strategic financial decision-making. Furthermore, it explores the relationship between healthcare services delivered and their associated costs, underscoring the importance of a balanced approach to manage expenditures effectively. Insights are drawn from various academic sources on healthcare finance management, organizational behavior in healthcare settings, and cost structures of health insurance schemes, illustrating comprehensive strategies for fiscal sustainability. The conclusion highlights that adept financial resource management is pivotal in improving services at Care South Group, ensuring sustainable operational practices while meeting the needs of its service users.

MANAGING FINANCIAL
RESOURCES IN HEALTH AND
SOCIAL CARE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 ..........................................................................................................................................1
1.2 ..........................................................................................................................................1
1.3 ..........................................................................................................................................2
1.4 ..........................................................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 ..........................................................................................................................................3
2.2 ..........................................................................................................................................3
2.3 ..........................................................................................................................................4
2.4...........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 ..........................................................................................................................................5
3.2 ..........................................................................................................................................5
3.3 ..........................................................................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
4.1 ..........................................................................................................................................6
4.2 ..........................................................................................................................................7
4.3 ..........................................................................................................................................7
4.4 ..........................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Management of financial resources in Health and Social Care (HSC) will help to provide
effective services to the users which help to achieve the objectives and goals of firm. The report
will cover information and regulatory requirements to manage the financial resources. Budget
expenditure and management to control and reduce the financial shortfalls will be discussed in
this report. Finally, the report will cover the information required to make financial decisions and
relationship between a HSC service delivered, costs and expenditure.
TASK 1
1.1
There are various costing and business control systems which should be adopted by the
Care South Group care home in order to manage the organisation activities effectively and
efficiently. Some of them are discussed below:
Cost: Cost of the resources should be managed and controlled by the firm such as income,
expenditure and cost centre effectively.
Expenditure budget: The business should make a budget plan for the expenditures in order to
determine the expenditures of the firm towards resources (Beard and Bloom, 2015).
Profit forecasting: Profitability of the firm should also be increased by Care South Group care
home in order to control the business control system towards cost and resources.
Monitoring financial information: Financial information is the main part of the firm in order to
manage its financial resources. This will help to increase the profits effectively.
Competitive tendering: Competition in the global market nowadays is very normal that
business should analyse its competitors which will help them to evaluate their position in the
market.
1.2
Financial information is crucial for the firm in order to manage the resources related to
the financial activities which are discussed below:
Business cost: Business cost includes the cost of employees such as salary and other costs
related to Care South Group care home should be managed by the firm.
Equipment: Information regarding equipment will also help business to manage the financial
resources effectively. This will also help to increase the profitability which leads towards
accomplishing desired goals and objectives.
1

Assets: Business assets such as buildings, resources, products information should be analysed by
the firm which will help to manage the financial resources in the firm.
Trends and external influences: In this global world, the trends are changing very fast that the
external influences such as political, environmental, social economic and technological changes
are affecting the business and financial resources (Borkowski, 2015). The information regarding
trend and influences must be evaluated by the firm.
Legal requirements: Legal factors include policies and regulations formulated by the
government which should be considered by the firm in order to manage the financial resources in
the firm.
1.3
Regulatory requirements such as codes of practice and legislation, accountability, audit
and policies will help to manage the financial resources in Care South Group care home.
 Internal and external audit committee should be organised by the firm.
 Insurance is also required to manage the commercial risk in the firm.
 Policies, plans and strategies implementation in order to take care of financial
departments such as cost and project without enhancing the expenditures effectively.
 Changes in the rules and legislation will produce risk for the different operational
departments which should be managed and controlled well (Bowling, 2014).
 Investment and cost should be planned for the future expenses.
 Evaluation of competitor’s policies and plans which will help to manage resources
effectively in Care South Group care home.
 Employee’s improvement towards knowledge and skills in order to manage financial
resources.
1.4
There are various systems associated with the HSC firm in order to manage and control
the financial resources effectively. Some of them are discussed below:
Source of income: Income of source is the main factor to manage the financial resources
effectively. The HSC homes collect income from donations, government and other parties which
help to manage the resources.
Budget plan: Budget plan will also help to manage the financial resources as the manager will
determine the cost of operations in order to manage and control the financial resources.
2

Audit requirements: Audit is also necessary for the firm at a particular time which will help to
determine the cost of different department activities so the extra cost could be managed by the
firm.
Accountability: An accountant should be appointed by the firm in order to manage the financial
resources in the firm by preparing documentary of all activities related to the cost.
These systems will help to manage the financial resources in the firm effectively and
efficiently.
TASK 2
2.1
Public, private, voluntary as well as local authorities and organisations are also the
diverse source of income for Care South Group care home in order to manage the financial
resources effectively.
Internal sources: Internal sources will include the personal savings, sale of asset and profit
retained from it and working capital (Cleverley, 2017).
External sources: External sources can be in long or short term. Long term sources include
debentures, third party investment, retained earnings and capital ventures. Apart from this, short
term sources will involve debt factoring, managing resources, over draft loans and trade credits
effectively.
In this case, the main source of income for Care South Group care home are government
funding, donations from the third party and profit gain from the revaluation if the business asset
effectively and efficiently. The gains received from the non-core operations from the business
will also be a part of source of income. This will help to manage the different resources in the
firm in order to provide effective services.
2.2
The main factor is the size of the firm that Care South Group care home is a large
organisation and working closely with the Alzheimer's society on the project of Dementia
including events such as awareness towards the Dementia and tea party effectively. The firm is
also associated with the local authorities with local funds and agreements and with the service
contracts with other home care agencies and firms.
Government policies: Government make changes in their policies and plans in order to manage
the economy level which also affect the financial resources availabilities in the firm.
3

Funding priorities: It can be said that necessary things should be purchased by the firm in order
to manage the operational activities effectively which also reduce the option of funding towards
financial resources (Epstein, et.al 2015).
Policies and objectives: Policies and objectives made by Care South Group care home will also
affect the availability of financial resources in the firm in terms of managing policies and
achieving objectives effectively.
Inter-agency partnership: Care South Group care home is in a partnership with the Alzheimer's
society on the project of Dementia including events such as awareness towards the Dementia and
tea party. This will also affect the financial resource management efficiently.
2.3
There are different types of budget expenditures in Care South Group care home such as
cost centre, outsourcing contract, operational budget, project management and cash and capital
budget.
Operational budget: Operational budget is normally set up at the beginning of the year for
different expenditures related to the daily operational activities effectively.
Capital and cash budget: Capital and cash budget refers to the income received or spent for the
projects assigned to Care South Group care home and inflows and outflows occurred in day to
day operations.
Project management: Management of project refers to the work associated with the Care South
Group care home which is increasing awareness towards Dementia and tea party. This will help
care homes to determine the budget expenditures.
Outsourcing contract: It can be described as a complex affair and a good one will help to
examine the agreements related to service level, rewards and penalties, measurements and exit
strategies (Hughes and Wearing, 2016).
2.4
Decision regarding expenditures in Care South Group care home can be made by
evaluating and determining the various factors associated with the expenditures effectively.
Environmental analysis: External and internal environmental factors analysis is important for
the firm in order to make decisions about expenditures. This will help to categorise factors which
consumes expenses for the firm.
4

Accountabilities: An accountant should be appointed by the firm in order to manage the
decisions about expenditure in the firm by preparing documentary of all activities related to the
cost and expenditures.
Project management: Project details and expenditure on it must be evaluated by the firm.
Management of project refers to the work associated with Care South Group care home which is
increasing awareness towards Dementia and tea party.
Short and long term planning: The managers should make plans and strategies for short and
long term in order to evaluate the decisions effectiveness regarding expenditures.
Financial risk: Determination and evaluation of financial activities will help to assess the
financial risk in the firm which will be managed after making decisions about expenditures
(Manjunath, et.al. 2016).
TASK 3
3.1
Financial shortfall refers to the exceeding amount spent on the resources to the amount of
cash available in the firm effectively. The management of financial shortfalls is necessary for the
business in order to manage the financial activities.
Reserve funds: A Reserve fund is a capital saved by the management in order to cope up with
financial shortfalls. This will help them to take advantage of financial opportunities even if the
cash is not available.
Priorities: Priority is an essential element of an individual which refers to the duty and
responsibilities provided to him by the management. This will be managed by the employees
properly and appropriately which will help to reduce the financial shortfalls.
Alternative external sources of income: Alternative income source is used when the firm is in
condition of financial shortfalls. Income comes from external sources such as third party will
help to manage the financial activities.
3.2
Risk Identification: First of all, it is essential to determine or identify the areas of the situations
that have led to the risks or the fraud to take place.
Risk Ranking: Assessing that where the risks could occur more with respect to the current
scenario.
Risk Mitigation: Response to be given to the risks that are likely to occur.
5

Access Residual/ Outstanding Risks
After the assessment of fraud, following actions are required to be taken off as discussed below:
 The immediate note over the various concerns should be done.
 Appropriate authority should be informed and his intervention should be brought in.
 The matter should be dealt promptly and politely.
 Various letters, documents and notices should be considered carefully.
3.3
The budget should be managed and controlled by Care South Group care home in order
to manage the financial resources and activities within the firm and will help to control the cash
flow effectively (Ongaro, et.al. 2015).
Controlling cost: Cost should be controlled by the firm in terms of managing financial activities
such as cash and capital management in order to control the budget.
Forecast current budget: A specific time period should be considered and followed by the firm
in order to prepare the budget effectively.
Actual performance against current budget: The measurement of actual budget performance
and expenses in the last year should be with respect to the budget done so far so that it will help
to find the loopholes.
Actions to control the budget: The above steps followed by the firm will bring corrective
actions required to control the budget and managing the financial resources and activities as well.
TASK 4
4.1
Decision making responsibility: This is the most important part to make financial decision and
for that, a professional or manager should be appointed by the firm in order to manage the
financial resources to make financial decisions in the firm.
Cost information: Different costs involved in Care South Group care home should be
considered such as fixed cost, salary and maintenance cost etc. the variable cost and additional
expenses should be analysed by the manager.
Balance sheet: Balance sheet will help to determine the unnecessary expenses, purchase and sell
of asset, information of the expenses etc. (Patel and Saxena, 2014). This will help to reduce
wastage and will help to increase the profitability.
6

Income of sources: The HSC homes collect income from donations, government and other
parties which help to manage the resources. This will help to take financial decisions effectively.
4.2
A strong and trustworthy relationship is required to be maintained between care service
delivered and cost plus expenditures which will help to deliver different effective services to the
patients in Care South Group care home. It can be said that there are various expenditure and
costs involved in the process of treating different patients in the firm.
For an example, patients with lung cancer will involved regular tests, medicines, and
programs and exercise in order to recover and growth as soon as possible. In order to take care of
patients in the firm, it will involve various expenditures such as machineries for the tests and
providing medicines accordingly etc. The mode of payment will decide the involvement of better
services in the treatment effectively (Shi and Singh, 2014). There are certain and several costs
included in the process of treatment in order to recover the patient. Hence, there is a strong
relationship between cost and expenditure as well as services delivered by the care home.
4.3
There are lots of financial considerations which has impact on an individual using the
services provided by the HSC home.
 The service cost.
 Patient choices to use the service as his priority.
 Better alternatives at lower costs.
 Service user income level.
 Investment returns by the user.
 Service quality and effectiveness obtained by the user.
The financial position of patient will help to determine the service level he can afford at
minimum price effectively.
4.4
Alternatives: Alternatives of the services should be provided by the firm in order to provide
advantage of choosing own service to use effectively. This will also help to manage the cost of
service according to the income of user.
7

Information by financial decision maker: A discussion should be made before implementing
or finalising the service. Financial decision maker will help to provide suggestions towards
effective service should be used by user to recover.
 The payment to the service providers as per their quality and performance.
 The payment systems established should be clear, transparent and stable.
 A comprehensive approach to be developed for the service user to discuss on the various
financial concerns with the services.
Apart from this, funds and support will also help to improve the services of Care South
Group care home (Verhulst and Lambrechts, 2015). Innovation and creativity is also a better
strategy to improve and develop the services effectively.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that management of financial resources and
activities within Care South Group care home will help to make effective decisions regarding
financial and operational activities. Information and regulatory requirement will help to manage
financial resources. Budget management will help to reduce the financial shortfalls within the
firm. The strong relationship between a HSC service delivered, costs and expenditure are also
important to improve the services of Care South Group care home.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Beard, H. P. J. R. and Bloom, D.E., 2015. Towards a comprehensive public health response to
population ageing. Lancet (London, England) 385(9968) p.658.
Borkowski, N., 2015. Organizational behavior in health care. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Bowling, A., 2014. Research methods in health: investigating health and health services.
McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
Cleverley, W. O., 2017. Essentials of health care finance. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Epstein, M. J. and et.al., 2015. Managing social, environmental and financial performance
simultaneously. Long range planning 48(1) pp.35-45.
Hughes, M. and Wearing, M., 2016. Organisations and management in social work: everyday
action for change. Sage.
Manjunath, U. and et.al., 2016. Comparison of Cost Structure, Package Rates and Financial
Feasibility for Selected Surgeries Covered under Social Health Insurance Schemes: A
Case Study. Journal of Health Management 18(1) pp.134-160.
Ongaro, E. and et.al., 2015. The fiscal crisis in the health sector: Patterns of cutback management
across Europe. Health policy 119(7) pp.954-963.
Patel, V. and Saxena, S., 2014. Transforming lives, enhancing communities—innovations in
global mental health. New England Journal of Medicine 370(6) pp.498-501.
Shi, L. and Singh, D. A., 2014. Delivering health care in America. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Verhulst, E. and Lambrechts, W., 2015. Fostering the incorporation of sustainable development
in higher education. Lessons learned from a change management perspective. Journal of
Cleaner Production 106 pp.189-204.
9