Population health led Strategic Workforce planning

Exemplar case study: our Strategic Workforce Planning framework (SWiPe) formed the basis for a comprehensive process of system engagement across the North East & North Cumbria ICS during the latter part of 2019.  Over 150 people were involved and workforce data from across primary, community, acute and social care sectors was combined to provide insight into the key challenges and opportunities associated with embedding strategic workforce planning into the wider ICS planning goals.  This project has now received a Highly Commended award at the 2020 HPMA Excellence in People ceremony, of which WSP are immensely proud.  You can review a summary of the work undertaken in 2019 here.

Sustainable change within health and social care is dependent on having the right capacity and capability in the workforce wherever it is needed. This will not ‘just happen’ but needs to be carefully planned. It cannot be done in isolation but has to be linked to financial and service planning as well as to the changing needs of the people being cared for. Any workforce plan should be supported by an implementation plan that outlines the recruitment, retention, education and development that is required to achieve the future workforce.

The care function cube opposite is the starting point for WSP’s population health led approach to strategic workforce transformation.  Each dimension of the cube provides one element of the dynamic context for planning workforce futures, with the combined effect providing the basis for our tools.  These tools draw on our population health and dynamic modelling skill-set to provide a suite of spreadsheet and modelling tools now in use across a number of STP/ICS, CCG and Primary Care settings.

WSP has also developed a comprehensive framework for describing what a ‘mature’ system looks like, i.e. where strategic workforce planning is fully integrated into wider transformation planning processes.

For further information please contact Peter Lacey.