A data-driven platform that could equip NHS organisations to overcome challenges in workforce planning was presented in Arden & GEM’s latest workshop for NHS leaders, on Thursday 12 March.
The session was co-presented by Colin Lewry, an expert in workforce planning, who has worked with the Arden & GEM team to develop the workforce element of the platform. When asked by Colin about the barriers their organisations face when trying to plan staffing effectively, workshop participants had no shortage of responses. There was the complexity of having to plan across organisational boundaries in a changing healthcare landscape, combined with factors such as change fatigue, depleted HR departments, and pressures on operational staff leaving them little time to think about workforce planning – never mind thinking creatively about the long term.
Despite these difficulties, ICBs and providers are being asked to undertake forensic scrutiny of their workforce – so there has never been a greater need for technology that can support connected planning.
A connected planning approach aligns IT, finance, HR, and clinical outcomes under one unified strategy, contrasting with traditional, siloed planning that may leave key questions unanswered – like which roles we need to fill, and how to manage resources efficiently.
Our solution
Arden & GEM recently led a national procurement for NHS England to pinpoint best-in-class planning solutions. After thorough evaluation, we secured national contracts with Anaplan and Oracle EPM Cloud. Now, we’re collaborating with these vendors to develop prototype planning models.
Thursday’s workshop included a demonstration of the dynamic Integrated Planning and Resource Management platform.
Suitable for use by ICBs, providers and whole systems, the platform brings together all the critical healthcare planning elements – activity demand, workforce capacity, financial projections and performance metrics. In this integrated model, each component feeds into a central hub, ensuring every plan is informed by the most up-to-date data.
From population and activity trends to performance and productivity measures, and to finance details, the system dynamically recalculates and forecasts as new information comes in. Decision makers can use scenario modelling to explore ‘what if’ possibilities, adjusting strategies before they become problems in the real world.
Workshop participants were reassured that, while the system is designed to manage complexity, it won’t be difficult to use in practice and the time saved could be significant.
To find out more about the platform, view the demo and hear the discussion, you can watch the webinar on our YouTube channel:
If you have questions or would like to find out more about our planning solutions and consultancy services, don’t hesitate to get in touch via email.