Standing up system workforce planning - and the analyst capability to sustain it - across an ICS
A multi-year programme with Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West covering system workforce planning, primary care modelling, and a structured analyst training needs assessment.
NHS BOB (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & Berkshire West) ICS
System workforce programme + analyst capability
Whole ICS · nursing, AHP and primary care workforces
Multi-year, multi-workstream
A system in formation, a workforce plan under pressure, and a stretched analyst function
As the BOB ICS formed, it needed a system-level view of its workforce that no individual provider could produce on its own - covering nursing supply, AHP supply, and the increasingly critical primary care workforce. It also needed the internal analyst capability to build, hold and refresh that view, rather than a permanent dependency on external analytical support.
The ICS asked us to work on both together - the plan and the capability - because they were two sides of the same problem.
Parallel workstreams - system planning and analyst capability
We ran a set of connected workstreams. On the planning side, we supported the ICS with system-level workforce modelling across nursing and AHP supply, primary care workforce modelling under ARRS, and system-level COVID recovery workforce analysis. On the capability side, we ran a structured training needs assessment (TNA) of the ICS analyst function, identifying the specific skills, tools and methods needed to hold system workforce planning internally - and then designed a training and coaching response.
How the programme was delivered
BOB workforce planning support
Ongoing
System-level workforce planning support across nursing, AHP and primary care, providing the ICS with an integrated workforce view during a period of system formation and operational recovery.
Primary care modelling and network support
PCN workstream
Modelling primary care workforce under ARRS, and supporting the design of primary care network operating models across the BOB footprint.
BOB nursing and AHP supply
Discrete workstream
Supply-side workforce modelling for nursing and AHP professions across the ICS, connecting attrition, training pipeline and international recruitment.
BOB system analysts TNA
Capability build
A structured training needs assessment of the ICS analyst function - identifying skills gaps, prioritising development needs, and designing a coaching-and-training response to build system workforce planning capability internally.
What changed
System workforce view
A system-level workforce view across nursing, AHP and primary care that the ICS could use to shape investment and prioritisation.
Internal analyst capability
An ICS analyst function that had a clear picture of what its members needed to develop, and a structured programme of learning to get there.
Sustainable planning cycle
A workforce planning approach that the ICS could hold and repeat internally, rather than a set of external deliverables.
Services delivered
System workforce planning · Primary care workforce modelling · Training needs assessment · Capability building
Working on something similar?
We're happy to talk through a brief before any engagement is on the table. Most of our best work starts with a short conversation.