AHP Capacity
Calculator
- User Guide
1
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
AHP Capacity Calculator
The AHP Capacity Calculator has been developed by the AHP Workload Measurement &
Management project (AHPWMMP) and to support you to:
Quantify the workforce required to meet a defined workload (with/without a
percentage growth) (Workforce Calculator)

Quantify the workload a defined workforce can support (Workload Capacity)

Develop costed Xmas tree models for a defined workforce (Xmas trees)

Provide a crude efficiency quotient in the form of cost per new patient (Xmas Trees).
To access the tool, go to :-http://www.workforceplanning.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx. This takes
you to the web page below. From here you can select which calculator you wish to use by
clicking on “Workforce Calculator”, “Workforce Capacity” or “Xmas Trees”.
NB - All the fields in the tool shaded green are variables and you can input / overwrite
as you work through the tool.
2
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Workforce Calculator
The Workforce Calculator is a modelling tool that quantifies the workforce required to meet a
defined workload (with / without a percentage growth) and is broken down into three steps.
Step 1
This step calculates the clinical time required to meet the current / future workload.
From the dropdown menu “Select Workforce Breakdown” to determine whether you look at
the whole workforce, the workforce split into support staff and qualified staff or broken down
into all 9 Bands.
Choose the AHP “Profession” or multi-professional tab to cover the service area being
considered.
You are then required to enter the “Service / Patient Category” by typing in the box. You
may use this field to define the patient group by specialism (Medicine), modality (CT), location
(Health Centre X), etc.
3
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Details regarding the service delivery model are then entered for this category of patients.
You need to enter the

Number of new patients per annum

Average assessment time per patient in minutes

Average treatment time per patient in minutes

Average number of treatments per patient.
You can input figures using local professional intelligence but to increase the validity of the
outputs, it is recommended that this data is obtained from existing activity data collection
systems or short-term activity analysis audits.
You have the option to indicate an anticipated percentage growth in your workload at this
stage.
Click on “Next” to go on to the next step.
4
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Step 2
Step 2 calculates the clinical time available per whole time equivalent (WTE). To do this you
enter the
•
Sickness Absence (percentage)
•
Study Leave (hours)
•
Maternity Leave (percentage)
•
Direct clinical (percentage).
Your workforce information team may be able to provide you with historic data on sickness
absence and maternity levels in your area. You will have to determine the average number of
hours study leave per WTE. This should include CPD, mandatory training, etc.
Professional judgement can indicate the percentage of time in direct clinical activities
however, the validity will be increased if this information is obtained from a task analysis audit
were staff collect data to reflect actual activity over a certain period (e.g. 1/2 weeks). Validity
will increase with the length of time and number of staff involved in this but this has to be
balanced with the amount of resource that can be devoted to this exercise.
The calculator displays the “Hours available per WTE per week” having adjusted for annual
(assumes 35 days), sick and maternity leave. It also indicates the number of “Direct clinical
hours available per WTE per week”.
Click on “Next” to go on to the next step.
5
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Step 3
This step quantifies the workforce required to meet the workload. It details the total clinical
hours required (current workload and percentage growth as appropriate) along with the
clinical capacity per WTE. Based on these factors, the final three columns detail the “WTE
Workforce Required” to meet the service demand.
If there is a mismatch between the workforce required and the staffing level in the area, you
can use the calculator to consider different ways of delivering the service that may enable a
match to be obtained e.g. change in skill mix, increase in percentage of time in direct clinical
care by increasing administrative support, etc.
6
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Workforce Capacity
The Workforce Capacity tool quantifies the workload a defined workforce can support and is
broken down into three steps.
Step 1
Step 1 identifies the current composition of the workforce by length of service to enable the
annual leave allowance to be built in to step 2.
As with the Workforce Calculator, you must initially “Select Workforce Breakdown”,
Professions and the “Service / Patient Category”.
You then enter the whole time equivalent (WTE) staff by length of service.
Click on “Next” to go on to the next step.
7
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Step 2
This step calculates the clinical time available per whole time equivalent (WTE). This is the
same as step 2 in the Workforce Calculator – see page 5.
8
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Step 3
Step 3 calculates the number of new patients the current workforce can see per annum.
You are required to enter details regarding the service delivery model for this category of
patients. You need to enter the

Average assessment time per patient in minutes

Average treatment time per patient in minutes

Average number of treatments per patient.
You can input figures using local professional intelligence but to increase the validity of the
outputs, it is recommended that this data is obtained from existing activity data collection
systems or short-term activity analysis audits to increase the validity.
Once you have input this data, the final two columns of the table indicate the “Average
clinical hours per patient” and the “Number of new patients per annum” that can be
seen with current capacity.
Please note, when a patient requires input from more than one band (i.e. support and
qualified, Band 5 & Band 7) the number of new patients will be limited by the lower level. For
example, the Band 5 may have capacity to see 1000 new patients but if the Band 7 only has
9
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
capacity to see 800 new patients then only 800 new patients can be seen but the band 5 has
some excess capacity.
Xmas Trees
This part of the tool develops costed Xmas tree models for a defined workforce and provides
a crude efficiency quotient in the form of cost per new patient.
Step 1
Firstly enter the “Profession” and “Service / Patient Category”
Next you enter your “Whole Time Equivalent (WTE)” workforce by Agenda for Change pay
band for this service / patient category.
Finally, enter the number of “New Patients” seen in this category per annum and the
percentage of “on-costs” used for staffing in your service.
10
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
Step 2
This displays your workforce in a Xmas Tree diagram as a useful pictorial representation of
your staff.
The workforce is costed on mid point of Agenda for Change bands to give an overall
workforce cost. This information is used along with the number of new patients to give a
cost per new patient. Figures with on-costs are also included
11
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide
AHP Calculator Reports
With all three components of the calculator, you can press on “Create a Word Document” to
develop a word document detailing your calculation – you can save this to your computer /
disk for future reference.
Alternatively, at any point you can log in to the website using an Athens password and save
your reports by clicking on “Save As” in any of the three calculators on the website and
return to them when you next log on by clicking on “Open Saved Calculations”.
Also, if you click on the Calculator tabs under the “AHP Calculator Reports” heading, you
can select any saved calculations and then create a word report or combine several reports
into the one word document.
12
2.2/14th May 2009 /KMS
/Capacity Calculator User Guide