Table 1 Synthesized assessment of shortlisted HWP models for the health workforce planning process
Models identified | Capacity for needs-based projections of service requirement | Capacity for local-level planning | Capacity to accommodate short planning horizons | Capacity for multi-professional planning | Capacity to conduct scenario analyses | Capacity to engage the workforce | Capacity to account for changing practice patterns | Capacity to account for population mobility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
England’s Robust Workforce Planning Framework [13] | Uses Birch et al. [14] Needs-Based Health Human Resource Planning Framework to project service requirements | Scale defined in horizon scanning process | 30-year planning horizon in 5-year increments | An additional step can be added to distribute skill hours across a chosen mix of professions using wellbeing skills cube | Uses scenarios to account for uncertainty that is inherent to health systems and uses sensitivity analysis to test impact of data variations | Elicitation of expert opinion to define sources of uncertainty, generate narrative scenarios, quantify scenario parameters, and assess the impact of policies | Includes consideration of participation rates and attrition rates for each age and gender cohort | Not addressed |
New Zealand’s Workforce Intelligence and Planning Framework [15] | Integrates demographics and demand by first conducting a health needs assessment, followed by defining appropriate model of care | Can be used to inform local, regional or national-level planning | 2–3 year planning horizons feed into 5–15 year plans | Amenable to multi-professional planning | Capacity for scenario analysis | Clinician and expert engagement in the environmental scanning process | Accounts for internal flows between geographic locales, institutions, sectors, and specialties | Not addressed |
Australia’s Health Workforce Planning Tool [16] | Utilization-based projections | Defines a common national approach to prioritize coherence and consistency at the national level | Plans through 2025 | Conducts separate exercises for doctors, nurses, and midwives using the same modelling methodology | Allows for scenario analysis to assess the impact of policy options and conduct sensitivity analysis | Consults with expert reference groups, workforce participants, clinical leads throughout the planning process | Attributes exit rates to each 5-year age and gender cohort | Not addressed |