Workforce data, planning and transformation

Physiotherapy – Medicine of the Elderly 

Analysing the activities undertaken by the Medicine of the Elderly, physiotherapists in flagged up that Mondays were the busiest day of the week in respect of numbers of new referrals received by them. 35% of new service users were referred on a Monday. As the department staffing included part-time staff, decisions were taken to employ more staff on Mondays rather than spreading part-time staff hours equally throughout the week. The outcome was measured by comparing the numbers of service users who were not receiving assessment or treatment on the desired day over two 2-month periods. These were immediately prior to the change and during the period of altered staffing. Despite a 14% increase in admissions during the trial period, the service users prioritised out of treatment fell by 12.5%. Staffing has now permanently been adjusted with snapshots being taken to ensure that staffing continues to be targeted appropriately.