Finance

The Finance department is primarily responsible for managing the finance function of the CUH Group of hospitals. It monitors the efficient delivery of patient services within the hospitals' allocated budgetary funding. This entails the preparation of timely and accurate financial information for Hospital Management, South/South West Hospital Group and HSE Corporate. The department is actively involved in the day to day administrative business of the Group as well as providing supporting data to assist the strategic planning process. Staff from CUH finance department regularly liaise with our counterparts in other hospitals in promoting improvements and efficiencies in financial systems and processes. Our representatives are prominently involved at National and Regional level with other HSE agencies & external groups in reviewing finance-related structures, procedures and policies.

The Finance department, which is located in the Administration Unit, was restructured in 2015 to reflect the implementation of Activity Based Funding.

Financial Accounting

This section is responsible for preparing and submitting the suite of financial employment and activity reports in respect of the CUH Group of hospitals to the Senior Management team on a monthly basis. These reports compare actual performance against budget for the current period and on a cumulative year-to-date basis. In addition to updates on various cost control measures, income generation & Value for money initiatives, it also contains projected forecasts that inform management on taking corrective action to ensure CUH remains within the budgeted allocation. The unit is also proactive in monitoring employment numbers as well as initiatives to manage attendance and reduce absenteeism. Finance also endeavours to support the Clinical directors in managing budget and actual expenditure incurred by each directorate

Responsibility for ensuring that the CUH group is fully compliant with HSE National Financial regulations rests with the Finance dept. The staff liaise on an ongoing basis with HSE Internal Audit and external auditors in reviewing the internal controls in operation throughout the hospital and reporting to management on any weaknesses that come to light. There is also constant engagement with HSE Procurement who manage the purchasing, inventory and accounts payable functions on behalf of CUH, to ensure that any liabilities incurred on behalf of the hospital are properly in a timely manner

Finance also prepare the equipment replacement programme for prioritisation by Executive Management Board and HSE-Estates and oversee the subsequent disbursement of Minor Capital funding allocation. Staff actively participate in all major capital projects with specific involvement in the equipping, commissioning and projected running costs of new facilities.

Contact: +353 (0)21 4922013/ 4922087 / 4922094

Management Accounting

The Clinical funding unit (CFU) has been established to ensure that CUH group of hospitals is best placed to maximise the share of funding available from Activity Based Funding (ABF). Staff are required to have a detailed understanding of the costs relating to all aspects of patient activity throughout the hospital and identify how these costs compare with national averages and other peer hospitals. The unit works closely with the clinical coders in the HIPE department and other key departments to ensure that each episode of patient care is accurately coded and costed. Staff are actively involved in developing appropriate systems in the main high-spend departments that will facilitate the provision of accurate and timely cost information by patient.

The section has responsibility for validating costing data for inclusion in business case and other funding submissions made by departments to HSE and external agencies. Staff are actively involved in providing specialist costing expertise on major change projects.

Contact: +353 (0)21 4922014

Salaries

Expenditure on pay accounts for over 70% of the gross CUH spend, disbursed over 3500+ whole time equivalent staff.

The salaries department has the primary responsibility for processing payroll data to ensure that all CUH Group staff are duly remunerated on an accurate and timely basis. This is achieved in a series of fortnightly & monthly payroll runs that encompasses the wide range of complex arrangements in place for the reimbursement of medical, nursing, other allied health professionals & administrative staff over several locations. This requires close and regular liaison with the Payroll department of HSE-South, CUH Human Resources and the other departments providing information on employee working hours and rates of pay.

Given the high proportion of budgetary spend on pay, accurate and timely payroll reports are essential in assisting management with the monitoring of the overall financial situation in CUH.

In addition to specific audits undertaken by HSE-South Internal Audit, CUH Salaries Department carry out ongoing evaluation of employee and payroll data generated by other departments. The identification of over/under payment of salaries can often give to a lengthy process of recovery / reimbursement which must be skilfully and equitably deal with to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

Salaries department also co-ordinate the reimbursement of salaries in respect of staff seconded to other organisations as well as the raising of charges in respect of services provided to external institutions by CUH employees.

The processing of employee claims for reimbursement of travel and other refundable expenses is also a service provided to CUH Group staff by this section

Staff in the Salaries department are available at designated times to deal with queries from staff relating to their payslips. This can entail clarification of new pay scales, allowances, changes deductions etc. 

Contact: +353 (0)21 4920969 / 4922010 / 4922016