Capability and Capacity

The white paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS sets out the government’s long term vision for the future of the health service. The vision builds on the core values and principles of the NHS; a comprehensive service, available to all, free at the point of use, based on need, not ability to pay.

The consultation paper Liberating the NHS: Developing the Healthcare Workforce sets out the proposed revised structure for workforce planning, including education commissioning.

These changes, together with the ongoing financial challenges of achieving efficiency savings whilst retaining a quality service, mean that organisations must ensure that they make the most effective use of their current and future workforce. In order to do this they will need to ensure they have a workforce that is flexible, affordable and sustainable, the best way to do this is developing robust workforce plans that are integrated with service and financial plans.

In order to support organisations to develop capability and capacity in workforce planning skills, Skills for Health (SfH) has designed a selection of development menus to accommodate the needs of people from different career paths and roles that input into the workforce planning process. These menus provide a selection of resources and programmes designed and developed by SfH, together with links to useful programmes and resources.

We can deliver a number of core development programmes ranging from an introductory level through to operational and strategic depending on your individual or organisational needs.

In addition we also offer bespoke workforce planning programmes that can be tailored to the specific needs of your organisation. This service allows you to select from our well established selection of off the shelf courses to give you a tailored training solution, with the content, location, group sizes and delivery all defined by you.

If you would like to know more about any of these programmes, further information can be found in our Workforce Planning Development Menu or contact Liz Livermore on Liz.Livermore@skillsforhealth.org.uk

Introduction

This is recommended for those who are new to workforce planning at a trust, PCT or SHA level. This may well suit those in HR, medical personnel and service roles with a workforce planning remit as well as bespoke workforce planning roles. It provides a framework for developing core skills and approaches.

Accredited Programmes

This is recommended for those who are seeking a professional qualification in workforce planning as part of their continuous professional development (CIPD) and provides a selection of accredited programmes.

Commissioners

This is recommended for those involved in workforce planning aspects of commissioning service and will help ensure commissioning processes are based on robust workforce planning approaches.

Strategic

This is recommended for strategic leaders responsible for service development to give an overview of effective workforce planning approaches.