By
The Challenges Facing the United Kingdom's Healthcare System
The United Kingdom healthcare system is confronting significant challenges, including nursing shortages exacerbated by demographic changes, rising patient demand, and an increasing number of nurses retiring. In response to these pressures, healthcare organisations are prioritising long-term workforce strategies and labour demand models.
These initiatives aim to provide better insights into future staffing requirements, nurse enrolment trends, and workforce supply, with the objective of creating a more resilient healthcare system ready to meet the evolving demands of the future. Additionally, an ageing population and ongoing health reforms are driving millions of new patients into the system, amplifying demand for services and further straining healthcare resources.
To effectively address these challenges, it is vital to develop a robust and stable workforce plan. Such a plan will not only facilitate better resource allocation but also enable the management of staffing needs and adaptation to the increasing patient load.
But what exactly is a workforce plan? Why is it so crucial to have one at this moment? And how can you create an effective and stable plan for your healthcare organisation? Let’s explore these questions.
What is a Healthcare Workforce Plan?
A workforce plan is a strategic document that outlines how healthcare organisations intend to manage their employees to meet current and future needs. It acts as a roadmap to ensure that the right professionals with the appropriate skills are hired and placed in suitable roles to achieve the organisation’s objectives.
Key elements of a workforce plan should include:
- Current workforce analysis: What are your current staffing needs?
- Future workforce needs: How will your needs change in response to evolving demand, and have you considered additions and expansions that will require adjustments in staffing numbers or skills?
- Recruitment and staffing strategies: How will you attract and hire the right talent?
- Retention and development strategies: How will you retain and develop your employees?
- Workforce optimisation: How do you ensure the right staff are in the right positions and balance workloads to prevent burnout?
- Measuring success: How will you assess the success of your plan, and what key performance indicators (KPIs) will you track?
- Continuous evaluation and adaptation: How will you ensure your workforce plan remains aligned with your goals and adapts to changing circumstances?
- Understanding agency usage: How to balance reducing reliance on agency staff with managing increased overtime and incentive use to prevent burnout.
We will delve into each of these components later when discussing how to build a robust workforce plan for your healthcare organisation. First, let’s consider why having a workforce plan is essential.
Why is Having a Workforce Plan So Important?
Without a plan, healthcare organisations risk over- or under-staffing, poor patient care, high turnover, and inefficient resource allocation. A workforce plan is not merely a necessity in the current healthcare environment; it’s a strategic advantage. Here are eight reasons why creating a workforce plan offers a strategic edge.
Optimal Staffing Levels
A well-crafted workforce plan should be grounded in a data-driven approach. Healthcare leaders should consider factors such as future demand for registered nurses (RNs), impending changes in hospital capacity, and the impact of new regulations. This analysis allows hospitals to tailor their strategies to their specific needs rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s also important to note that, as you analyse your internal data, it’s crucial to consider broader local, regional, and national economic trends that could affect your workforce.
Enhanced Patient Care
When staffing levels are optimised to meet patient demand, hospitals can concentrate on delivering higher-quality patient care. Adequate staffing reduces staff errors, shortens patient wait times, and allows nurses more time to spend with patients.
The result? Improved patient satisfaction and a better hospital reputation.
Reduced Turnover and Improved Retention
Employee turnover is costly. According to a Charity Today report, training a nurse to be independently competent can cost as much as £85,000. Overall, the cost could run the NHS system nearly £22bn.
A strong workforce plan can enhance retention by detailing strategies for keeping employees engaged. These strategies involve addressing workload balance, fostering a positive workplace culture, and providing opportunities for career development.
Efficient Resource Allocation
Workforce planning helps hospitals allocate resources strategically. By understanding departmental needs, you can deploy staff effectively to meet demand. However, when nurses are trained for specialty areas, it's vital to have a plan to fill gaps left in other essential units. Balanced staffing across all departments is key to maintaining patient care and operational efficiency.
Streamlined Recruitment and Onboarding
A workforce plan streamlines recruitment and onboarding by clearly defining staffing needs, roles, and timelines. This clarity helps you create precise job descriptions and target your recruitment efforts, allowing you to attract and retain suitable candidates.
For instance, Linda Kruso, Director of Workforce Planning at Beaumont Health System, who also spoke to the American Hospital Association, mentioned that they examined why new recruit turnover can be problematic and completely revamped their onboarding programme using comprehensive data alongside their Chief Nursing Officer.
Improved Ability to Adapt to Change
A flexible workforce plan enables you to remain agile in response to the ever-evolving healthcare industry, which is constantly influenced by regulatory changes, technological advancements, and demographic shifts.
By incorporating dynamic staffing models, continuous skills assessments, and adaptive recruitment strategies, you can maintain compliance, remain competitive, and uphold the highest standards of patient care.
Better Compliance and Risk Management
Ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations is crucial for avoiding penalties and guaranteeing patient safety. Workforce planning helps manage compliance by ensuring that staff possess the necessary licences, certifications, and qualifications, and that there are enough qualified personnel to deliver safe and effective patient care.
Improved Organisational Performance
Ultimately, a well-planned and executed workforce strategy that addresses all the above benefits enhances your overall organisational performance. This leads to better patient outcomes and contributes to the hospital’s long-term success, enabling it to grow and continue providing excellent care.
How Do You Build a Workforce Plan?
Now that you understand the critical role of a workforce plan, here are six key steps for developing one:
Step 1: Assess Your Current Workforce
Examine your workforce demographics, including retiring staff and new graduates. Monitor internal transitions, especially nurses moving to specialties, as this can create skill gaps in critical areas such as medical-surgical units. Identifying these trends is essential to ensure adequate staffing and support across all departments.
Step 2: Forecast Your Future Workforce Needs
To effectively forecast workforce needs, align your workforce planning with your hospital’s strategic objectives and patient care goals. These objectives will guide your forecasting efforts. For example, if your hospital aims to excel in trauma care, this goal will inform the anticipated need for specialised trauma nurses and specific medical equipment. Consider whether additional beds or specific departments might be required.
Next, utilise demand forecasting to estimate future staffing needs by analysing patient volume trends, technological advancements, and changes in industry standards. For instance, if your hospital expects an increase in trauma cases due to a growing patient population, effective forecasting will help determine the appropriate number of trauma nurses needed.
Additionally, assess what skills and competencies your staff will require to meet evolving healthcare demands. For example, if new trauma care technologies are being introduced, you will need to train staff to use these technologies effectively.
Step 3: Develop Recruitment and Staffing Strategies
With your current and future workforce needs identified, it’s time to attract qualified candidates. Here are several ways to achieve this:
- Improve your employer brand: Position your healthcare organisation as the best place to work. Clearly define your values and provide a supportive workplace culture that prioritises growth, recognition, and inclusivity.
- Use international direct hiring (IDH): IDH involves recruiting qualified professionals from other countries for permanent positions, increasing the overall workforce of the hospital. When there is a gap between the supply and demand of professional nurses, this strategy can help hospitals tap into a pool of qualified nurses internationally, building a more diverse and robust workforce.
- Create targeted recruitment campaigns: Focus on advertising specific skills and roles through platforms such as LinkedIn, personalised emails, and niche job boards.
- Diversify your clinical pipeline: Go beyond just hiring new graduates to address the ongoing nursing shortage. Consider partnering with a trusted ethical recruiter, such as Oppvia, to enhance your long-term workforce strategy. Collaborating with educational institutions, as Duke University School of Medicine has done, is another effective approach.
After detailing your plans to attract candidates, outline your selection processes, including structured interviews and assessments. Finally, develop an effective onboarding strategy that integrates new recruits into your organisation. This may include a mentorship programme, comprehensive training, and regular feedback meetings.
Step 4: Create Strategies for Retention
Given the high cost of turnover investing in a retention programme is crucial. Here are a few ways to keep employee turnover low:
- Improve job satisfaction by implementing recognition programmes, promoting work-life balance, offering competitive compensation, and providing flexible work arrangements.
- Establish ongoing learning and professional development programmes, including training workshops and certifications.
- Help employees advance in their careers by outlining the steps they must take to progress and providing mentorship along the way. Implementing a preceptorship programme can significantly increase retention among staff.
Step 5: Maximise Workforce Efficiency
To optimise workforce efficiency, focus on effectively deploying staff, implementing flexible scheduling solutions, and improving resource management. Let’s delve into these aspects further:
- Effective staff deployment: Strategically assign clinical and support staff to various departments and shifts based on patient needs and demand. Use historical data, staff feedback, and workforce management software to guide your decisions.
- Flexible scheduling: Utilise scheduling tools that allow staff to select their preferred shifts or adjust their schedules based on availability. This approach enhances work-life balance and helps manage peak periods by aligning staff availability with demand.
- Efficient Resource Management: Beyond staff deployment and scheduling, it’s crucial to optimise all hospital resources, such as medical equipment. Ensure that equipment is properly maintained and utilised to avoid any downtime.
- Innovative Programs: Consider developing or implementing programmes that invest in nurses' professional development and create clear pathways for career advancement.
Step 6: Determine How You Will Measure Success
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of your workforce plan. Track KPIs such as desired staffing levels to prevent over- or under-staffing, patient satisfaction levels to gauge how well patient needs are being met, and turnover rates to evaluate the effectiveness of your retention strategies.
Don’t forget to set benchmarks for each KPI to assess actual performance. For example, a benchmark for patient satisfaction might be achieving a satisfaction score of 90% or higher.
Step 7: Regularly Review and Adjust
Implementing a workforce plan is not a one-time activity but an ongoing process. Your workforce plan is a dynamic document that requires regular review and adjustment to ensure it remains aligned with your goals and adapts to changing circumstances.
To make informed adjustments and ensure your workforce plan remains effective and relevant, it’s essential that your strategic planning process involves a multidisciplinary team, including finance, HR, and frontline staff and leaders, ensuring a comprehensive approach to workforce planning.
The Bottom Line on Building a Workforce Plan
Your workforce plan is more than a strategic advantage; it’s a necessity in today’s ever-evolving healthcare environment.
By carefully assessing your current workforce needs, forecasting future requirements, continuously refining your recruitment and retention strategies, maximising workforce efficiency, and tracking KPIs against benchmarks to measure success, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle current and future healthcare challenges.
Remember, your workforce plan is dynamic, meaning you need to consistently review and adjust it to keep it relevant. By doing so, your healthcare facility will be well on its way to sustained success.
About Oppvia
At Oppvia, our unwavering commitment lies in driving impactful change across diverse industries. Recognising that our people are our greatest assets, we strive to bridge the gap between talented individuals worldwide and organisations in search of their skills and expertise.
By revolutionising the way we source and place global talent, we offer a customised resolution to the staffing challenges that companies encounter, offering a ray of optimism, assistance, and specialised expertise to businesses around the globe.
Our goal is to make a global impact by providing individuals with the chance to pursue fulfilling careers and assisting organisations in discovering the talent they require to succeed. We imagine a connected global community where individuals and businesses collaborate to address today's and tomorrow's staffing needs.
In the dynamic world of workforce solutions, Oppvia stands by your side to guide you through the obstacles and possibilities. Whether you are on the hunt for key talent or a rewarding career, we are here to support you every step of the way.
