Understanding workforce planning for service commissioners

This programme focuses on the workforce planning implications of commissioning health and/or social care services for a local health economy.

The programme has been deliberately designed to dovetail with the approach to commissioning recommended by the Department of Health, as set out in the document 'Good Practice PCT Commissioning Scope of Services'

There are four key commissioning phases in the document:

• Assessment and planning
• Contracting and procurement
• Performance management
• Patient and public engagement.

This programme focuses specifically on the workforce planning and related issues associated with the assessment and planning phase.

Who is this resource useful for?

The programme has been developed to assist service commissioners, workforce planners and other managers who have responsibility for commissioning, planning, providing, managing or supporting the delivery of health and social care services:

This list could include:

• Staff engaged in practice based commissioning (PBC)
• The director of commissioning in a primary care trust (PCT)
• Other commissioning managers in a PCT
• The director of performance in a PCT
• Other clinicians and senior managers involved in decision making in a PCT or local authority.

How will the resource help me and my organisation?

The strategic planning role is critical in ensuring that PCTs meet the health and social care needs of the local population in both the short and long term. Such strategic planning needs to be consistent with local policies, national policies and within the strategic framework set by the SHA. Commissioners need to ensure that the right people will be in the right place at the right time with the right competences to meet the needs of the local population; and to do so in a way that is both affordable and provides values for money.

PCTs are expected to work in partnership with local authorities and primary care practices to deliver their commissioning responsibilities. Commissioning could be defined as ‘the means of securing the best value for service users and taxpayers'. Workforce is the largest single NHS resource, typically comprising about 70% of the total revenue budget.

Achievement of improved quality and value for money is much more likely to occur if the workforce planning and related issues are given full weight as an integral part of the assessment and planning phase of the commissioning process. The key objective of this programme as a whole is to develop an understanding of the workforce planning and related issues that need to be taken into account when commissioning services.

How do I use the resource?

You can access this and all our other e-learning resources by logging into our e-learning suite. If you are not already a user you can register today, it’s free and easy to do so.

There is around an hour and a half of learning material on the disc broken into bite sized lessons. The user can work through the guide at their own pace as an educational resource or refer to it as a best practice guide when they are developing plans in the future.

The six modules are:

Module 1: Health needs assessment (HNA)
This module considers what an HNA is and the key questions that must be asked as part of the assessment and planning phase of service commissioning.

Module 2: Reviewing service provision
This module sets out the basis for building a successful plan by considering the various issues and techniques PCTs need to contemplate when performing service reviews.

Module 3: Deciding priorities
Module 3 considers the bigger picture of combined workforce and related implications from the whole package of proposed priorities.

Module 4: Designing services
Module 4 looks at the factors that need to be considered when putting together a workforce design that meets all the correct criteria.

Module 5: Shaping the structure of supply
Module 5 looks at the current staffing position and what can be done to develop it to meet future demand.

Module 6: Managing demand
Module 6 has shown how workforce planning and other issues deliver benefits for patients through demand management plans.

Who can I contact about the resource?

Drop us a line at workforceprojectsteam@skillsforhealth.org.uk, or fill in the form below.

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