Workload and workforce planning: devolving the programme.

This article describes how implementing the Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning programme has been devolved from central government to individual NHS boards, and how its implementation has helped to ensure that senior nursing staff have become aware of their accountability for workload and workforce planning.

Workload and workforce planning: developing a learning toolkit.

The second article in this series described the tools for which there is a consensus for use in nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning (NMWWP) in Scotland, and the national programme of education and training support developed for the staff who would be using the tools in NHS boards. To help senior charge nurses, midwives and others support and manage their staff resources effectively, a learning toolkit has been developed by the NMWWP programme in partnership with NHS Education for Scotland. The NMWWP learning toolkit (NHS Education for Scotland 2008), described in this article, is a flexible, practical, work-based resource for use in NHS boards.

Workload and workforce planning: tools, education and training.

The Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning programme for Scotland, the origins of which were described in last month's Nursing Management, does not solve all the problems faced by workforce planners. However, it can provide evidence that informs decisions, workload and workforce changes and a suite of tools has been developed, evaluated and introduced to help healthcare staff gather this evidence. In this article, these tools, and the education and training initiatives that help staff use them, are described.

Workload and workforce planning: taking a national approach.

In response to an Audit Scotland report, the Scottish Executive, now the Scottish Government, set up the national Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning (NMWWP) programme to define workload and workforce needs, and to analyse the use of bank and agency staff. After extensive research, a systematic, national approach to nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning was recommended. This article, the first in a series of five on this topic, describes the legislation and policies that underpin the NMWWP programme, and highlights the demographic issues that are pertinent to the nursing and midwifery workforce in Scotland.