WORKFORCE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IMPROVING AWARENESS OF AVAILABLE DATA, INFORMATION AND INTELLIGENCE



Similar documents
How To Plan For The Future Of Nursing

WORKFORCE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES ARTS THERAPISTS EDUCATION COMMISSIONING RISKS SUMMARY FROM 2012

WORKFORCE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES MENTAL HEALTH NURSES EDUCATION COMMISSIONING RISKS SUMMARY FROM 2012

WORKFORCE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES LEARNING DISABILITY NURSES EDUCATION COMMISSIONING RISKS SUMMARY FROM 2012

Research and Innovation Strategy: delivering a flexible workforce receptive to research and innovation

WORKFORCE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS, PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPISTS AND RELATED APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY DIVISIONS

Nursing and Midwifery Professional Advisory Board Wellington House Room LG17 14 th March :00 16:30 Meeting Notes

Present: In attendance: Scott Binyon, Head of MPET, DH Elisabeth Jelfs, Director of Policy, Council of Deans of Health Monica Hirst, UNISON

Future nursing workforce projections

Mapping the core public health workforce

World Class Education and Training, for World Class Healthcare

A Framework of Quality Assurance for Responsible Officers and Revalidation

Education Surveys and Trends for

JOB DESCRIPTION. Contract Management and Business Intelligence

WORKFORCE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES ADULT NURSES EDUCATION COMMISSIONING RISKS SUMMARY FROM 2012

Developing the workforce to support children and adults with learning disabilities described as challenging

Quality Assurance Framework

Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A public health workforce strategy

Investing in people. Workforce Plan for England Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2014/15. Developing people for health and healthcare

UK Medical Education Data Warehouse

Medical leadership for better patient care: Support for healthcare organisations 2015

Investing in people. Workforce Plan for England Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2014/15. Developing people for health and healthcare

Liberating the NHS: Developing the Healthcare Workforce

Education and Training

Human Resources Report 2014 and People Strategy

RCN policy position. Executive Director of Nursing. RCN survey on PCT Executive Directors of Nursing. Rationale for an Executive Director of Nursing

Changes to nursing education: sharing local experiences

Advanced Level Nursing: A Position Statement

Forecasting the adult social care workforce

Symposium report. The recruitment and retention of nurses in adult social care

Report for the HEFCE Board from the UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee

Raising the Bar. Shape of Caring: A Review of the Future Education and Training of Registered Nurses and Care Assistants

Small specialties thematic review

ESR Road Shows 2013 Patrick Dodge Developing Informatics Skills & Capability (DISC) Health and Social Care Information Centre

CF WI SHAPE OF THE MEDICAL WORKFORCE STARTING THE DEBATE ON THE FUTURE CONSULTANT WORKFORCE CENTRE FOR WORKFORCE INTELLIGENCE

Information and technology for better care. Health and Social Care Information Centre Strategy

Mapping the core public health workforce

Pandemic Influenza. NHS guidance on the current and future preparedness in support of an outbreak. October 2013 Gateway reference 00560

Placement Tariff Funding and Currency Development. Jenni Field, Head of Finance Strategy, Health Education England

Delivering high quality, effective, compassionate care: Developing the right people with the right skills and the right values

My vision for the future of occupational health. Dr Richard Heron President, Faculty of Occupational Medicine

Context and aims of the workshops

NATIONAL MEDICAL TRAINING ADVISORY NETWORK CONSULTATION SUBMITTING YOUR FEEDBACK

Health Select Committee Inquiry into Education, Training and Workforce Planning. Submission from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy

Specialty Selection Test (SST) Pilot INFORMATION PACK

Director of Nursing & Quality. Helen Coleman Associate Director for Nursing Workforce

Physician Associate Workshop. Welcome

Rehabilitation Network Strategy Final Version 30 th June 2014

Healthy London Partnership - Recent Developments

High Quality Care for All Measuring for Quality Improvement: the approach

A framework of operating principles for managing invited reviews within healthcare

Measuring for quality in health and social care An RCN position statement

Managed Clinical Neuromuscular Networks

Revalidation of nurses and midwives

Research is everybody s business

TRUST BOARD. Date of Meeting: 05/04/2011 Enclosure: 5

Electronic Palliative Care Co-Ordination Systems: Information Governance Guidance

UKCPA - A Review of the Current Pharmaceutical Facility

Date of Trust Board 29 th January Title of Report Performance Management Strategy

IMPROVING DENTAL CARE AND ORAL HEALTH A CALL TO ACTION. February 2014 Gateway reference: 01173

Communication and Engagement Strategy Final Version 30 th June 2014

Clinical Academic Careers for Nursing, Midwifery and the Allied Health Professions Council of Deans of Health Position Statement

Background Quality Report: Community Care Statistics : Grant Funded Services (GFS1) Report - England

Best Practice. Change Management. Guidelines

Birmingham and Solihull LETC - Council Members

NHS England Equality Information Patient and Public Focus First published January 2014 Updated May 2014 Publication Gateway Reference Number: 01704

Mesothelioma Priority Setting Partnership. PROTOCOL November 2013

Appendix 1 Business Case to Support the Relocation of Mental Health Inpatient Services in Manchester (Clinical Foreword and Executive Summary)

Quality in Nursing Clinical Nurse Specialists in Cancer Care; Provision, Proportion and Performance

Health Education East Midlands Approach to Quality. Change to Quality Management Visits - Process from April 2014.

Nursing Expert Reference Group Terms of Reference

2. To note this report about the GMC s position on integrated academic pathways (paragraphs 13-19).

How to make your Quality Surveillance Group effective. National Quality Board, 2 nd Edition, March 2014

How To Reform Social Work

Training and education framework for fertility nursing

Employing and supporting specialty doctors. A guide to good practice

Members of the Board of Directors

Report of the Student Feedback Project Steering Group

Supporting all NHS Trusts to achieve NHS Foundation Trust status by April 2014

Health Service Circular

CENTRAL MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

National Workforce Data Definitions Inherited Information Standard. Human Behavioural Guidance Version 1.0

Summary of responses to the consultation and our decisions as a result

BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMING SYSTEM. A business improvement plan for the Department for Education and Child Development

NHS Sickness Absence Rates. January 2014 to March 2014 and Annual Summary to

What is Clinical Audit?

Good Practice Guidelines for Appraisal

Education & training tariffs. Tariff guidance for

JOB DESCRIPTION. Tatchbury Mount base and other Southern Health Sites as required

4 CM/11/14/04 Chief Executive s report to the Board

NATIONAL QUALITY BOARD. Human Factors in Healthcare. A paper from the NQB Human Factors Subgroup

Department of Health/ Royal College of General Practitioners. Implementing a scheme for General Practitioners with Special Interests

HEALTH AND EDUCATION

Report on District Nurse Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 2012/13

Payroll & HR Your Trusted Payroll & Pensions Partner

Council Meeting, 26/27 March 2014

SCR Expert Advisory Committee

Leeds South and East CCG Governing Body Meeting

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh EDUCATION, TRAINING AND STANDARDS DEPARTMENT VACANCY FOR DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

Establishing a Regulatory Framework for Credentialing

Transcription:

WORKFORCE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IMPROVING AWARENESS OF AVAILABLE DATA, INFORMATION AND INTELLIGENCE Report and recommendations August 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Summary... 2 2 Introduction... 4 3 Stakeholder requirements... 5 4 Product development... 8 5 Recommendations for improving data, information and intelligence11 6 Conclusions... 16 Annex 1 Contributors... 17 1

1 SUMMARY The Department of Health (DH), as part of the wider Education and Training Reform Programme to support a safe transition to the new health system, commissioned the Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) to develop a set of products which would support workforce planners and education commissioners by improving awareness of relevant sources of data, information and intelligence, to inform decision making. Our approach was to engage with a range of stakeholders and partner organisations to establish the information requirements of those responsible for workforce planning and education commissioning at a national, regional and local level. This informed the development of: a knowledge bank detailing validated sources of data, information and intelligence an electronic signposting tool to enable user-friendly access via the CfWI website. This report summarises the CfWI s approach to this project, describes the engagement with stakeholders and partners and explains how these discussions informed developments. It highlights some areas for improvement in the way data is collected and shared and links these to initiatives which are already being implemented to address gaps and support more effective workforce planning and decision making in the future. Key messages Stakeholders confirmed that an electronic signposting tool could benefit their work and that this should : o be interactive and offer a search function o provide summary information categorised as raw data, information and intelligence. There was general consensus that the tool would be relevant and useful to a wide range of end users at national, regional and local level. There is significant demand for a more comprehensive and sophisticated web-based tool which would improve awareness of data sources; what they do and don t provide and to provide enhanced functionality for the user to maximise shared learning between users. Senior leaders, strategic workforce planners and education commissioners support actions to address the further improvement needed to the consistency, integrity, granularity and governance of data currently available. 2

Next steps Develop and implement a communications strategy to raise awareness of the electronic signposting tool using existing networks and communications channels and promote the benefits of use (tool to be launched September 2012). Monitor and evaluate how the tool is accessed and used by the different end user groups, gathering feedback on the functionality and content (Autumn 2012). Collate feedback from stakeholders regarding the tool. If appropriate, hold discussions on whether it would be beneficial to commission a scoping report that sets out the infrastructure, investment required and benefits in developing a more comprehensive, web-based tool in the future (December 2012). Continue to work with lead organisations across the health and social care system to inform further improvements to data integrity and to the way data is collected and made accessible to support effective workforce planning and education commissioning. Feed information about data gaps and areas for improvement into the other strands of the DH s WIA workstream and the WIA Board. 3

2 INTRODUCTION This report summarises the CfWI s 2012 Workforce Information Architecture (WIA) project which, at a time of significant change across the health system, aims to improve awareness of available data, information and intelligence. This project does this by: exploring the current and future information requirements of workforce planners and education commissioners developing a robust, user-friendly signposting product to enable greater awareness of data sources information and intelligence and what they do and don t do identifying issues and recommendations for future improvements to the way data is collated and accessed. This work builds on a CfWI project in 2010 which undertook an in-depth analysis of data sources and produced a static map showing where workforce data was collected and housed. An accompanying report, Review of Information Architecture, CfWI (2010) http://www.cfwi.org.uk/intelligence/projects/information-architecture-1 provided a detailed summary of each of the sources and highlighted the gaps and issues affecting access. The DH commissioned the CfWI to review information requirements and develop an updated and interactive version of the earlier map. This was primarily to ensure planners and commissioners are able to locate and, where appropriate, access data in the new system and also to understand what individual data sources provide and do not provide. It is important to note that the CfWI is not a data repository and does not hold workforce data. This CfWI project is an important element of the wider DH WIA workstream. The aim of the over-arching workstream is to further develop the workforce information architecture to bring about improvements in the quality of data and in the way workforce planning data and information is made available and accessible. 4

3 STAKEHOLDER REQUIREMENTS The CfWI engaged with over 50 stakeholders at national, regional and local level and from different parts of the health and social care sector to understand their requirements and inform the product development. This included engagement with: workforce planners and education commissioners in Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), deaneries, NHS trusts, local authorities, social enterprise and primary care organisations workforce and policy leads at the DH, Medical Education England (MEE), Professional Advisory Bodies and Royal Colleges providers of data, information and intelligence e.g. Skills for Care (SfC), Skills for Health (SfH) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). Details of contributors to this project can be found at Annex 1. A series of semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted to gather views on common information requirements and data sources, explore the key issues affecting access to consistent and high quality data, information and intelligence. They also sought to identify potential end users for the products, together with the key features and functionality which would be of most benefit to users. Two facilitated workshops were held to focus specifically on: understanding common information requirements and data sources identifying and prioritising who would be end users for the proposed tool establishing the core functionality required and ranking this by importance reviewing early mock-ups of two products and obtaining feedback on the extent to which these might meet the identified needs. Combined stakeholder feedback from the interviews and workshops indicated that: the proposed tool would be beneficial to a range of end users all potential end users would have broadly the same requirements for the tool potential end users could be grouped into the following categories, set out in the following table. 5

Potential end users National bodies Local workforce planning and education commissioning bodies Examples of existing and emergent organisations by category Department of Health (DH), Public Health England (PHE), Health Education England (HEE), the CfWI Local authorities, strategic health authorities (SHAs), deaneries, local education and training boards (LETBs) Providers of health and social care services NHS, independent, voluntary and community Providers of education and training services Service commissioners Higher education, further education, private providers Clinical commissioning groups, local authorities. Critical requirements identified by stakeholders included: The terminology used must be consistent and understood by a wide range of potential end users (not just those in a workforce planning role). The tool needs to be easily accessible and user friendly. Information provided must be kept up to date to ensure users have confidence in the tool. The tool must have the ability to do multiple searches. The tool needs to have the ability to save and edit searches. The tool must be carefully marketed and communicated to manage expectations and encourage use by a wide group of stakeholders. There must be a facility to provide feedback on the tool itself and the information contained within the tool. Important requests included: The tool would ideally be an integrated web based solution. It would be useful to include key regional sources. The CfWI s research to develop the tool also highlighted that stakeholders and partners have some concerns about data gaps and the consistency and quality of information available to support effective workforce planning. They suggested a number of key issues which need to be addressed to maximise the benefits that the signposting tool can bring to the health and social care sectors in the future. For a more detailed discussion of these issues, please refer to Chapter 5 below. 6

A consistent message from stakeholders was that an interactive PDF tool would not meet their requirements, as this could not provide a facility to search, sort or filter the information in a variety of ways in order to reach summary information on the most appropriate sources. As a result, following discussions with the DH, the CfWI were able to revise the project brief to produce an electronic Excel-based signposting tool to provide greater functionality than an interactive PDF. The revised solution meets the critical need for stakeholders to search, sort and filter the information using multiple parameters. This facility provides both a free text search and a specific search using drop down options in order to find summary information on the most appropriate sources. In addition, the CfWI has provided the DH with the benefits and indicative costings for a more comprehensive, web-based tool that could be developed in the future and would meet some of the additional stakeholder requirements such as access to reviews of the most popular searches. If feedback from users indicates significant demand to further develop the tool into an on-line web-based solution, a detailed scoping exercise would be required to agree the functional requirements, costings and funding arrangements. 7

4 PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT The initial aim of the project was to update an existing diagram (Figure 1) which maps where workforce data is collected and housed and to develop this into an interactive version of the current PDF. Download a PDF version of the Information Architecture map http://www.cfwi.org.uk/intelligence/projects/information-architecture-1/files/informationarchitecture-map. Figure 1: Information Architecture Map produced by CfWI in 2010 The first stage was to compile a spreadsheet-based knowledge bank. This contains over 100 sources of data and information relevant to health and social care workforce planning. Each entry shows whether a particular source: captures raw data, such as the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) makes available information, for example the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) provides intelligence by adding value to raw data and information, as in the case of the CfWI and Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). Each lead organisation with responsibility for an entry has been given the opportunity to verify the description on the entry, with a 99 per cent response rate to date. This includes: frequency of update 8

level of coverage across England availability and access type of information e.g. age, gender, demographic web page link contact details for further information known issues from a workforce planning perspective and suggested improvements. This knowledge bank was designed to provide the content for an interactive version of the PDF map through which users could access summary information for each source. Figure 2: Examples of mock up screens for interactive PDF As a result of stakeholder engagement, it became clear that a tool of this nature could not provide the level of functionality being requested by the majority of potential end users and that some of the requirements could only be met by a more sophisticated web-based solution. Following a technical analysis of the options available to provide an appropriate solution, the project brief was adapted to focus on developing, within the same financial envelope and timeline, an electronic Excel-based signposting tool. This option: provides more enhanced functionality than an interactive PDF meets the most critical requests from stakeholders could form the basis of a more comprehensive, web-based solution in the future. 9

Figure 3: Screen shot of the CfWI workforce information signposting tool The CfWI has provided the project sponsor, the DH, with a summary of the high level requirements of stakeholders and the extent to which these have been met by the current project. This includes indicative costings for a more comprehensive, webbased tool that could be developed in the future and would meet more of the stakeholder requirements. As significant change to data sources is infrequent, updating of the tool content will take place on a continuous basis as the CfWI become aware of changes (both through our own work and via feedback from others). Core information contained within the tool, for example contact names, will be checked every six months. The tool will include the opportunity for users to provide feedback and suggested improvements. These comments will be collated and presented to the DH for further discussion (autumn 2012). It is also suggested that this is supported by a small number of structured telephone interviews with stakeholders and partners to gather feedback on the content, functionality and usability of the tool. User testing of the signposting tool will be essential to gather feedback on functionality and content, to inform future development and improvements, for example: indicating whether sources include information which could help to track the movement of health professionals adapting the language and terminology to make the tool more appropriate for a wider audience additional interactive functionality to enable users to learn from each other and how they have used the sources available (this would require a web-based solution). 10

5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING DATA, INFORMATION AND INTELLIGENCE This section of the report outlines recommendations being made by the CfWI on ways in which data, information and intelligence could be improved to support more effective workforce planning and education commissioning. These recommendations are a result of stakeholder feedback and from the core work of the CfWI including development of the workforce information signposting tool. We focus on five key areas that the CfWI believes require improvement and which would help to create a more flexible data system, able to respond to the needs of the emerging LETBs. It is vital that workforce planners and service commissioners have access to data which has the right level of granularity and is aligned to the way education and training is commissioned. This will help to inform workforce planning more effectively, particularly for highly specialised professions. A more flexible data system of this sort will also help provide the information workforce planners and service commissioners need to understand the likely quality outcomes and financial implications of their plans and decisions. Addressing gaps and issues for improvement will require a concerted effort over time by a range of organisations within the health and social care sector. The CfWI acknowledges that a number of initiatives to support improvement are already underway, including the DH WIA workstream of which this project is one element. The DH is also working closely with the Health Education England transition team and a range of partners, including the CfWI, to review the current education and training planning cycle, identify areas for improvement and develop guidance to support the emerging LETBs. The overarching theme for improvement relates to data quality and data granularity and the top four priority areas which emerged from the CfWI WIA project are: supporting the programme to improve data quality through the NHS Electronic Staff Record availability of core workforce information across all qualified providers of NHS funded services an agreed standardised approach to data and information collection by regulators, royal colleges and professional bodies improved access to raw data and information to enable analysis and benchmarking A key challenge in taking forward these developments will be to balance the need for better quality workforce data against the desire not to add to the burden of data collection across the sector. While recognising this constraint, we consider that 11

much can be achieved through better coordination and cooperation. There is also scope in some areas for streamlining and simplification. 1. Supporting the programme to improve data quality through the NHS Electronic Staff Record Having a central Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system has brought many advantages and streamlined the collection of workforce information from the hospital and community health sector. The need to collect data once has replaced a burdensome central collections system and provided vital information which can support effective workforce planning. The current contract for the provision of the NHS Electronic Staff Record comes to an end in August 2014 and users have been involved in developing future requirements. We urge LETBs to engage in the consultation on reprocurement of ESR so their future needs are considered. The emerging LETBs will be reliant on access to comprehensive and accurate data to inform their workforce strategies and plans. The CfWI considers that greater clarity is needed on where future responsibility will sit for assuring the quality of data at a local level in the new system, and in particular, whether LETBs will have a quality assurance role for the data they use in their workforce strategies and plans. As part of the Health and Social Care Act (2012) the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has been given a lead role on data quality across health and social care. In 2011 the HSCIC implemented a revised data quality process for ESR data so that a single data quality report is sent to individual provider organisations on a monthly basis. This highlights any issues relating to specific fields within ESR and summary reports are also sent to SHAs The CfWI supports the continued development of the ESR system and the HSCIC s ongoing programme to improve data quality. We recommend that the focus should continue to be on improving the integrity and completion of data and the work with NHS providers to increase the use and accuracy of ESR fields and benchmarking tools. Other improvements which would be beneficial include: The recording of data with greater granularity on medical sub-specialism. Establishing methods to improve the coding of medical sub speciality categorisation published by the HSCIC in December 2011. It is important that this is updated in ESR as individual roles change. The continued drive to improve coding as workforce titles change for example in healthcare sciences, in line with the latest defined Modernising Scientific Careers roles and specialisms. The continued improvement in the granularity of recording data on some parts of the workforce, for example allied health professionals. 12

Stakeholders and partner organisations highlighted particular challenges in obtaining robust and timely data for the primary and community workforce. The CfWI recommends that consideration is given to ways in which the level and quality of data available through the ESR for the workforce in the primary care and community sectors can be improved to help inform local planning and commissioning. 2. Availability of core information across all qualified providers of NHS funded services Gaining access to high-quality, robust data across all parts of the healthcare workforce is a significant challenge. Currently, education commissioning cannot take full account of the needs of the independent sector yet decisions on commissioning the future NHS workforce have an impact on both NHS funded and independent organisations. More complete information will help improve supply and demand forecasts across all of health and social care, which will in turn improve workforce planning. The need for more robust workforce data and a better understanding of workforce requirements across both sectors is likely to become more important as the system shifts to provide more integrated care and staff currently employed in the NHS are employed in different organisations, for example, local authorities and social enterprises. There is therefore an increasing need for all providers of healthcare services to provide basic workforce planning information to the system. We recognise the concerns regarding the sharing of data with competitors and the need to explore: whether there could be a mandated collection for all NHS qualified providers how the competitiveness of providers could be protected when they provide such data to the wider system. This could be achieved through the national minimum dataset strand of the DH WIA workstream which is already well advanced in establishing a core workforce data set for all qualified providers of NHS services. The case needs to be made to all health and social care providers of the benefits to them of providing high quality workforce data to inform local education and training commissioning. 3. An agreed standardised approach to data and information collection by regulators, royal colleges and professional bodies The professional bodies currently invest a great deal of time and effort in collecting profession-specific data. This data has been, and will continue to be, valuable in informing workforce planning at a local, regional and national level. It also informs education commissioning and investment planning. However the nature and frequency of the data collected varies considerably, as do the definitions used. 13

The CfWI recommends that a minimum dataset for all royal colleges and professional bodies should be developed, to enable valid comparisons across the professions. Our on-going work with royal colleges and professional bodies suggest support for this. It would be of great benefit to the system if all regulators and/or medical royal colleges had a standardised approach to capturing data, based on agreed definitions. If all regulators could agree a minimum data set so that comparisons can be made across professions, each part of the system could then embark on developing comparative plans based on agreed data. We also recommend that all regulators should also specifically include the clinical status of registrants i.e. clinically active or not. In addition, it is important to obtain better information on the geographical and longitudinal migration of doctors. This could be achieved by ensuring a unique identifier for each individual member of a royal college or professional body (e.g. GMC or NMC number) as well as employer information, which could be reported and triangulated. It would be important to keep this information up-to-date, to ensure information about movement to different roles and retirement is captured. We suggest agreement will be needed on the frequency of collecting and reviewing this data. It would also be important to make sure that this data is fully available, securely and safely, to the relevant organisations for planning and reporting purposes. The DH and GMC have work in progress that will allow improved forecasts of trainee attrition, recruitment and specialty training choices. The improvement of medical workforce planning is also being considered by the Joint Working Group for Specialty Training Numbers (JWG) through a commission to review local and national information sources in England. The review will recommend a way to use the evidence and data available to the JWG to improve system wide intelligence. 4. Improved access to raw data and information to enable analysis and benchmarking The CfWI recommends that the following measures are adopted to improve transparency and access to key information: Organisations which collect and/or hold data to develop data sharing protocols which will allow the safe, secure and responsible sharing of anonymised data in a fast and efficient manner. This should include open publication and linkage of 14

specified data sets to facilitate greater transparency in the context of the review of information protection and sharing being led by Dame Fiona Caldicott 1. Continued support to keep the information architecture mapping up to date, including contributing to the HSCIC inventory of the wealth of data collected by other parts of the health and social care system 2 Links to workforce-related data sources could be included in the Department of Health s proposed comprehensive online portal 3. This may also be the appropriate central repository for different benchmarks such as clinician: population ratios for all professions where available. The NMDS-SC database to be made available to workforce planners in health care services to enable workforce commissioning across local authority and commissioning group areas. This could be through a network of authorised users with an understanding of how the data has been collected, defined and analysed so that it can be applied to their particular area or issue. A method should be established to link training status deanery data to the wider system workforce information as deaneries do not have access to ESR. This should create a consistent dataset across regions and allow comparison with other workforce datasets. 1 http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/02/dame-fiona-caldicott-to-lead-confidentiality-review/ 2 Department of Health, The Power of Information, June 2012, page 99. URL: http://informationstrategy.dh.gov.uk/ 3 Ibid, page 93. 15

6 CONCLUSIONS The CfWI WIA project and development of the workforce information signposting tool has established that: There is an appetite within the workforce planning and education commissioning community for practical tools and products which signpost users from health and social care organisations to reliable sources of data, information and intelligence. The WIA signposting tool which has been developed meets the most critical stakeholder requirements and a key benefit of the Excel tool is the ability to search, sort and filter by multiple parameters to find the most appropriate sources available. This would not have been available through the interactive PDF originally commissioned. User-testing of the signposting tool will be essential to gather feedback on functionality and content and inform any further development, for example: o Indicating whether sources include information which could help to track the movement of health professionals. o Adapting the language and terminology to make the tool more appropriate for a wider audience. o Improving the functionality and user experience. A web-based tool could offer some additional benefits including access to a single updated live version of the tool, providing statistics on use of the tool and the capability to review the most popular searches. There is also potential to include user feedback on specific sources to maximise shared learning across the system. A detailed assessment of the benefits and investment will be necessary to inform future decisions on further development of the tool. A comprehensive communications and marketing plan will be put in place to ensure a wide range of strategic and operational bodies have an awareness of the signposting tool, its benefits and any future developments. There is a need for continued improvement to the quality and consistency of information available to workforce planners and education commissioners. There are a number of initiatives already being progressed by the DH and HEE to address these issues and support the emerging LETBs. It is essential that during and beyond transition to the new system, national and regional organisations continue to work together to improve the quality and availability of information which supports health and social care workforce planning at all levels. 16

ANNEX 1 CONTRIBUTORS Name Kate Anderson David Bennett Jonathan Booker Dale Brown Ian Bullard Mike Burgess Nigel Burgess Damian Byrne Duncan Campbell Tracey Carstairs Nancy Cooke Mary Currie Liz Edelman Title and organisation Chair of the Social Services User Service Group The Health and Social Care Information Centre Workforce Information Architecture Workstream Manager, DH Head of Workforce Intelligence and Modernisation Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Senior Workforce Analyst Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust Workforce Section Head The Health and Social Care Information Centre Assistant Director Workforce Strategy NHS North West SHA Workforce and Education Commissioning Strategy Manager, Guys and St Thomas Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Head of Workforce Planning & Resourcing 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Senior Information Analyst London SHA Education Commissioning and Contract Manager East Midlands SHA Strategic Workforce Development Manager East Midlands SHA Associate Director: Workforce Planning Kings Hospital Foundation Trust Head of Leadership & Workforce Development, 17

Outer North East London NHS Trust Wendy Egerton Jacqui Ellis Michelle Featherstone Joan Fletcher Head of Workforce Information, Planning and Assurance DH Head of Workforce and Development NAViGO Health and Social Care Community Interest Company Workforce Manager Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust DH David Foster Professor Simon Gregory David Griffiths Alastair Henderson Lisa Hughes Shereen Hussein Dr Keith Ison Zoe Johnston Andrew Jones Kathryn Jones Des Kelly Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health Post Graduate Dean NHS East of England Multi-Professional Deanery Workforce Intelligence Project Manager (Analysis) Skills for Care Chief Executive Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Co-Chair, National Allied Health Professional Advisory Board, DH Senior Research Fellow Social Care Workforce Research Unit King's College London Head of Medical Physics, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Adults & Joint Commissioning Adult Social Care & Health Bracknell Forest Council Associate Director of HR & Workforce East Cheshire NHS Trust Workforce Planning & Transformation Manager Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust Executive Director 18

National Care Forum Jonathan King Trish Knight Mary Lewis Jackie Livesey Derek Marshall Joanne Marvell Patrick Mitchell Nigel Moloney Peter Nightingale Paul Niblett Tony Overd Adrian Price Mike Purvis Saba Razaq Professor David Sowden Liz Thomas Ian Thornber John Wallace Senior Workforce Information Analyst East Midlands SHA Deputy Director of Workforce East Midlands SHA Strategic Workforce Planner South Central SHA Strategic Workforce Planning Manager Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Head of Workforce Intelligence North East SHA Transition Programme Manager NHS Equality and Adult Social Care, DH Director of National Programmes Medical Education DH Bolton NHS Foundation Trust President, Royal College of Anaesthetists Social Care Dissemination Section Head The Health and Social Care Information Centre Head of Workforce Intelligence South West SHA Workforce Lead Staff Survey Department of Health Postgraduate GP Dean Yorkshire and the Humber SHA Workforce Analyst North West SHA Director Medical Education (England) Medical Education England Senior Workforce Analyst North West SHA Sector Head, Primary Care Workforce, The Health and Social Care Information Centre Committee Member 19

Learn to Care Ian Wheeler Adrian Whittle Simon Williams Head of Research and LMI Skills for Health Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development Cambridgeshire and Peterborough County Workforce Group Information Analyst Hampshire County Council 20

Improving access to data, information and intelligence DISCLAIMER The Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) is an independent agency working on specific projects for the Department of Health and is an operating unit within Mouchel Management Consulting Limited. This report is prepared solely for the Department of Health by Mouchel Management Consulting Limited, in its role as operator of the CfWI, for the purpose identified in the report. It may not be used or relied on by any other person, or by the Department of Health in relation to any other matters not covered specifically by the scope of this report. Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd has exercised reasonable skill, care and diligence in the compilation of the report and Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd only liability shall be to the Department of Health and only to the extent that it has failed to exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence. Any publication or public dissemination of this report, including the publication of the report on the CfWI website or otherwise, is for information purposes only and cannot be relied upon by any other person. In producing the report, Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd obtains and uses information and data from third party sources and cannot guarantee the accuracy of such data. The report also contains projections, which are subjective in nature and constitute Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd's opinion as to likely future trends or events based on i) the information known to Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd at the time the report was prepared; and ii) the data that it has collected from third parties. Other than exercising reasonable skill, care and diligence in the preparation of this report, Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd does not provide any other warranty whatsoever in relation to the report, whether express or implied, including in relation to the accuracy of any third party data used by Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd in the report and in relation to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purposes of any projections contained within the report. Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd shall not be liable to any person in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise for any damage or loss whatsoever which may arise either directly or indirectly, including in relation to any errors in forecasts, speculations or analyses, or in relation to the use of third party information or data in this report. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this disclaimer shall be construed so as to exclude Mouchel Management Consulting Ltd s liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. CfWI May 2012 21

www.cfwi.org.uk The Centre for Workforce Intelligence produces quality intelligence to inform better workforce planning that improves people s lives