Acute Workload Calculator

This calculator has been development through working with a  number of Trusts to estimate their CLINICAL staffing required to deliver care to their clients, based on a set of standardised care activities and other data that are set locally.

In comparison, traditional "benchmarking" methods we have reviewed included:

  1. A Trust comparing its staffing establishment with that of other Trusts who cover a similar demography.
  2. A Trust reviewing their own previous workforce budgets as a baseline from which to estimate additional staffing levels.

Admittedly these methods are relatively easier than making an estimate based upon detailed data, but in our view ,the risk of purely comparative "benchmarking" is that workforce plans may be validated against "norms" of workforce levels and may not include workload analyses based on local standards of care delivered to clients. The approach within the Workload Calculator is to base estimated staffing levels on LOCAL data including:

  1. Minimum guaranteed care standards
  2. Patients admissions and discharge rates and lengths of stay.
  3. Local HR policy or the Knowledge and Skills Framework that relates staff bands to care activities (matching staff skills to care delivery).
  4. The quantitative workforce effects of sickness, essential and mandatory study leaves,  and essential non-clinical activities.

We understand the effort required in capturing such data and using the Acute Workload Calculator Edition 1.4, however we are of the view that to estimate staffing lelvels based upon standards of care and objectivley auditable data requires such an approach.

The latest edition is as simplified a solution as we can achieve without over-simplifying the problem to the extent of not actually addressing the real question...

 "...how many staff does a unit need in order to deliver standards based care to its clients AND do everything else that is required of the staff?"

A guidance booklet and printable data entry sheets have been drafted to help teams use the calculator, though we have found that teams do benefit from "hands on" support when beginning to use the calculator and understanding some of it underlying concepts.

Downloadable Resources

For further information or enquiries please email nick.adams@wmrdc.org.uk or call Nick on 07747 793748