Transformation Partners in Health and Care > Resources > Value, quality and productivity

Delivering improved value, quality and productivity through the workforce

The NHS in London is facing a £4.76 billion affordability gap by 2020/21. Delivering the right care in the right setting, improved productivity in existing services, and establishing new ways of delivering care are all recognised as areas of opportunity for the workforce to deliver improvement value for patients.

Supporting resources

Streamlining Programme tools and resources: The Streamlining programme is a collaborative London programme of acute, community and mental health provider trusts led by London HR directors who work together to: identify and share best practices through networks of operational managers; benchmark performance, identify opportunities and innovations to save money and improve quality; agree minimum standards and operational practices to eliminate duplication and inefficiency; and lobby for national policy and system changes that will enable local practices to deliver better results for staff and patients.

NHS workforce information network tools and resources: eWIN is the NHS workforce information network, hosted by Health Education England, designed to enable improvements in workforce development, efficiency and productivity. eWIN provides a central place to share and access valuable workforce information, best practice, case studies and resources.

Common insights

The combined regulatory requirements on the medical workforce above and beyond their core duties as clinicians can create additional bureaucracy and increase the non-productive time of the workforce.

Inconsistent ways of working in undertaking workforce planning and rostering can be a cause of reduced productivity in the frontline workforce.

Where organisations’ finance and governance models are at odds with new ways of working, this can limit change and innovation across the existing workforce.

Where procurement of clinical supplies and non-clinical services are not tracked or managed consistently in an organisation, this can limit the workforce from delivering optimum care to patients that reflects value for money.

Where there is a lack of bank and agency staff pay-rate harmonisation, there is a risk that organisations will incur unnecessarily high agency costs to meet the shortfalls in permanent workforce rosters.

Where different local employers in a similar geographical area, or departments within the same organisation, undertake similar organisational processes (e.g. recruitment) independently of each other, streamlining these processes can deliver efficiencies.

By implementing the Right Care approach through Public Health and commissioner agendas maximises the value the patient derives from their own care and treatment, and the value the whole population derives from the investment in their healthcare.

Increased input from hospital pharmacists working in multi-disciplinary teams will improve outcomes, reduce waste, improve prescribing decisions and reduce avoidable harm.

Case studies

Skill mix to support productivity: Health Education North West outline productivity benefits brought about by an increased skill mix.

Examples of seven day services in the NHS: NHS Improvement details why a seven day NHS is so important.

Leadership and productivity: Tower Hamlets CCG worked to shift work between skills mixes to optimise efficiency and increase patient access to care.