Workforce Planning

The Department recognises the importance of workforce planning in identifying appropriate staffing levels and structures.  Local staffing arrangements are the responsibility of individual HPSS employers, taking into account factors such as service needs and available resources.  The Department has a role in ensuring that sufficient suitably qualified staff are available to meet the needs of the service overall.

Workforce Planning Unit has in place a programme of comprehensive workforce planning reviews carried out at regional level across the main professions and a number of supporting groups in the HPSS.  The main aims of the reviews are to establish information on the supply/demand dynamics relevant to the workforce group, thereby informing the Department’s decision-making on the number of training places to be commissioned and to develop understanding of the issues impacting on recruitment and retention and career progression of those employed.

The workforce planning cycle comprises a major review of each group every three years, supported by annual update reviews.  The purpose of the annual update reviews is to maintain current workforce information and identify any new issues impacting on the workforce group thereby enabling any necessary action to be taken at an early stage.