Managing Financial Resources in  Health and Social Care

Rules and regulations:

Plagiarism is presenting somebody else’s work as your own. It includes: copying information directly from the Web or books without referencing the material; submitting joint coursework as an individual effort; copying another student’s coursework; stealing coursework from another student and submitting it as your own work.  Suspected plagiarism will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with according to the procedures set down by the College. Please see your student handbook for further details of what is / isn’t plagiarism.

Coursework Regulations
1    Submission of coursework must be undertaken according to the relevant procedure – whether online or paper-based.  Lecturers will give information as to which procedure must be followed, and details of submission procedures and penalty fees can be obtained from Academic Administration or the general student handbook.
2    All coursework must be submitted to the Academic Admin Office and a receipt must be obtained. Under no circumstances can other College staff accept them. Please check the Academic Admin Office opening hours.
3    Late coursework will be accepted by Academic Admin Office and marked according to the guidelines given in your Student Handbook for this year.
4    If you need an extension (even for one day) for a valid reason, you must request one. Collect a coursework extension request form from the Academic Admin Office. Then take the form to your lecturer, along with evidence to back up your request. The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick. The completed form must then be returned to Academic Admin for processing. This is the only way to get an extension.
5    General guidelines for submission of coursework:
a)    All work must be word-processed and must be of “good” standard.
b)    Document margins shall not be more than 2.5cm or less than 1.5cm
c)    Font size in the range of 11 to 14 points distributed to including headings and body text. Preferred typeface to be of a common standard such as Arial or Times New Roman for the main text.
d)    Any computer files generated such as program code (software), graphic files that form part of the course work must be submitted either online with the documentation or on a CD for paper submissions.
e)    The copy of the course work submitted may not be returned to you after marking and you are advised to have your personal copy for your reference.
f)    All work completed, including any software constructed may not be used for any purpose other than the purpose of intended study without prior written permission from St Patrick’s International College.

Outcomes and assessment requirements
Learning Outcomes    Assessment requirements
To achieve each outcome a learner must demonstrate the ability to:
LO1 Understand how systems are used to manage financial
resources in health and
social care
1.1 explain the principles of costing and business control systems
1.2 identify information needed to manage financial resources
1.3 explain the regulatory requirements for managing financial resources
1.4 evaluate systems for managing financial resources in a health or care organisation
LO2 Understand the role of
planning in the management
of health and social care
budgets    2.1 discuss the diverse sources of income that may be encountered in health and social care
2.2 analyse the factors that may influence the availability of financial resources in health and social care organisations
2.3 review different types of budget expenditure in health and social care organisations
2.4 evaluate how decisions about expenditure are made within a health or social care organisation
LO3 Understand the importance of monitoring budget expenditure in health and social care organisations    3.1 explain how financial shortfalls can be managed
3.2 explain the actions to be taken in the event of suspected fraud
3.3 evaluate budget monitoring arrangements in a health or social care organisation
LO4 Understand how systems
and processes for managing
financial resources influence
health and social care
services.     4.1 identify information required to make financial decisions relating to a health and social care service
4.2 analyse the relationship between a health and social care service delivered, costs and expenditure
4.3 evaluate how financial considerations impact upon an individual using the health and social care service
4.4 suggest ways to improve the health and social care service through changes to financial systems and processes.
*Please see below the for Merit and Distinction criteria

Merit descriptors     Indicative characteristics    Contextualised Indicative characteristics     ?
M1    Identify and apply strategies to find  appropriate solutions    An effective approach to study and research has been applied.     Has shown appropriate interpretation of financial information in financial management, in a health and social care setting.
M2    Select/design and apply appropriate methods.    The selection of methods and techniques/sources has been justified.      Has shown appropriate interpretation and importance of planning a budget in a health and social care setting.
M3    Present and communicate appropriate findings       A range of methods of presentation have been used and technical language has been accurately used.    Has presented information for managing financial resources in a health and social care setting.
Distinction Descriptors    Indicative characteristics    Contextualised Indicative characteristics     ?
D1    Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions.     Conclusions have been arrived at through synthesis of ideas and have been justified     Has critically evaluated their work and drawn relevant conclusions.

D2    Take responsibility for managing and organising activities.      Substantial activities, projects or investigations have been planned, managed and organised.    Has demonstrated an effective approach to independent thinking through investigation of activities, in analysing and management of budgets in a health and social care settings.
D3    Demonstrate convergent/ lateral/creative thinking.
Ideas have been generated and decisions taken and problems have been solved.    New ideas have been generated in explaining the importance of processes for managing financial resources influence health and social care services

Summary of grades

In order to achieve a pass in a unit    •    all learning outcomes and associated assessment criteria have been met
In order to achieve a merit in a unit    •    pass requirements achieved
•    all merit grade descriptors achieved
In order to achieve a distinction in a unit    •    pass and merit requirements achieved
•    all distinction grade descriptors achieved

Scenario
Assume you were the manager of one of the BUPA Care Homes and managing financial resources of the organization is one of your responsibilities. You have access to Annual Financial Report for the year 2012 which includes different financial statements for the last financial year. This Report is available on stponline.(www.stponline.co.uk)

To manage the finance of your own organisation, you have to develop understanding of controlling budget expenditures in your organisation. The main income of the care home is the fees paid by the service users and there is very little support available from other partner organisations. To manage expenditures you have to equip yourself with the knowledge and understanding needed to monitor costs, make predictions, evaluate the process of effective control of resource allocation, including shortfalls, and make recommendations for the expenditure.

As a manager you need to understand the role of planning in the management of financial budgets and the importance of monitoring and managing expenditure. You have also the responsibilities of identifying the financial resources and managing shortfalls of budgets.

ASSIGNMENT
Based on the scenario above and the BUPA Care Homes (CFG) PLC case study, you are required to complete a REPORT of 2,500 words. You should refer to the assessment criteria and the relevant unit content, when preparing your evidence of assessment.

Task 1  Learning Outcome 1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 ) M1,

1.1 Explain what principles of costing and business control systems may be adopted in BUPA.
1.2 What were main heads/amounts of income for BUPA in the last financial year?
1.3 What regulatory requirements need to be satisfied while managing financial resources in BUPA?
1.4 Evaluate the systems for managing financial resources in BUPA ?

Task 2 Learning Outcome 2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4) M2, D2

2.1 What are the diverse sources of income for BUPA?
2.2 Analyse the factors that may influence the availability of financial resources in BUPA?
2.3 Review different types of budget expenditure in BUPA.
2.4 Evaluate how decisions about expenditure could be made in BUPA

Task 3 Learning Outcome 3 (3.1, 3.2 and 3.3) D2

3.1 Assuming there was financial shortfall in BUPA; explain how this situation could be managed?
3.2 What action you would take if you suspect occurrence of financial fraud in your organisation?
3.3 Evaluate budget monitoring arrangements in BUPA.

Task 4 Learning Outcome 4 (4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4) M3,D3

4.1 Identify information required to make financial decisions relating to a health and social care service
4.2 Analyse the relationship between care service delivered and ‘costs and expenditure’.
4.3 Evaluate how financial considerations impact upon a service user.
4.4 Suggest ways to improve the care service provided by BUPA through changes to its financial systems and processes.