NHS SCW supported a London provider in analysing its Medical Workforce to identify gaps for transitioning from a 5-day to a 7-day Consultant-led service, in line with government objectives.
Challenge
The organisation aimed to identify gaps in the Consultant workforce to deliver a seven-day service. Decentralised management, varied systems, and inconsistent practices hindered the Medical Directorate's ability to accurately assess workforce needs. To plan effectively, they required a clear understanding of staff in post, vacancies, and job-specific activities. Without a centralised data source, they sought support from NHS SCW to project future workforce requirements. Following initial scoping, NHS SCW was engaged to analyse staffing levels, identify gaps, and provide detailed insights to support the goal of delivering a 7-day service.
What we did
To deliver this critical project, NHS SCW worked closely with the Medical Directorate to define three key deliverables:
- Diagnostic review: a thorough analysis of the medical workforce establishment at divisional and service levels, collecting and consolidating workforce data and relevant information.
- Consultant job plan analysis: an assessment of consultant job plans, focusing on aligning activities to contracted responsibilities.
- Workforce modelling and gap analysis: the development of a robust model to assess the current workforce and identify gaps in preparation for the transition to a 7-day service.
In addition to quantitative efforts, NHS SCW conducted qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, including the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Chief People Officer (CPO), Head of Resourcing, Head of Medical Workforce, HRIS leads, Clinical Directors, and Service Managers. These discussions revealed key pain points, identified reporting tools and systems, and clarified data processes, laying the foundation for a sustainable workforce strategy.
In collaboration with the Medical Directorate and leveraging internal Business Intelligence (BI) expertise, SCW triangulated workforce data to create a powerful BI dashboard. This tool provided detailed insights into the medical workforce, breaking down programmed activities by role type, grade, division, speciality, and weekly activity, while distinguishing between elective and non-elective direct clinical care (DCC).
The dashboard also identified Consultant workforce gaps in whole-time equivalents (WTEs) required for both 6 and 7-day service models, alongside associated cost projections. This data-driven approach provided leaders with the visibility and tools needed to address workforce challenges and drive sustainable, Consultant-led service delivery.
Activity
Translation of policy drivers
Into strategic, transformational and operational workforce plans.
Data and insights-driven decision making
By optimising the impact of the available workforce, quality, performance, PHM, and other data to drive insightful workforce strategy development, as well as impactful and cost-effective workforce interventions and solutions.
Building a future-ready workforce
By supporting the design and development of the future workforce.
Impact
NHS SCW delivered significant outputs to support informed decision-making for future medical workforce planning, including:
- Workforce and Gap Analysis: A comprehensive model of the Medical Consultant workforce, outlining job-planned activities and anticipated gaps for implementing 6- and 7-day services.
- Job Planning System Review: A quality assurance assessment that identified shortcomings in current job planning systems and recommended actions to ensure long-term accuracy and reliability.
- Strategic Insights Paper: A detailed report that explored challenges in medical job planning and data quality, presenting each issue alongside actionable solutions and a clear improvement roadmap.
These outputs established a data-driven framework to address workforce gaps, optimise job planning processes, and improve data integrity, supporting the creation of a sustainable Consultant-led 7-day service model.
