Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning
Nursing & Midwifery Workload and Workforce
Planning
Introduction to Workforce Planning and
Staff Deployment
Quality Education for a healthier Scotland

Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning
• the process for estimating the required health workforce to meet future health service requirements and the development of strategies to meet those requirements (for a balanced workforce)
• “At its simplest, effective workforce planning ensures you will have a workforce:
– of the right size
– with the right skills and diversity
– organised in the right way
– within the budget that you can afford
to deliver the services you need to provide the best patient care.”
(National Workforce Projects)
Quality Education for a healthier Scotland

Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning
• Planning - designing patterns of staff mixes and utilisation in line with strategic policy goals
• Production - the supply of nurses including all aspects of nursing and midwifery education
• Management - covers all matters relating to the employment, use and motivation of nursing staff
– determines the productivity and coverage of different nursing services
– and their capacity to retain staff
Quality Education for a healthier Scotland

Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning
• identify shortages and surpluses and prevent staffing crises
• define tasks and roles and encourage teamwork
• contribute to ensuring patient safety by having the right staff skills in place to deliver effective care
• identify drivers of both demand and supply
• establish workforce education and training needs
• provide for service development and changing healthcare needs
Quality Education for a healthier Scotland

Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning
1. Short term - ensuring there is sufficient staff to cope with the expected workload, i.e. rostering
2. Medium term - small adjustments i.e. re-evaluate your requirements for any vacancy, e.g. skill mix
3. Long term - manpower planning whereby decisions are taken in the longer term regarding staffing i.e. due to service change or development for a
4. Operational - decisions taken about the deployment of staff that are actually on duty
Quality Education for a healthier Scotland