The Workforce Planning and Talent Development Branch are responsible for supporting workforce planning capability in the NSW Health system. While there are numerous mechanisms through which the branch does this, between 2018 and 2021 we conducted a consultation process and developed several documents and strategies aimed at defining our approach to building workforce planning capability.
The Workforce Planning and Talent Development Branch distributed the Discussion Paper: Building Workforce Planning Capability in the NSW Health System in August 2018. The aim of this paper was to test the suitability of a new approach to building Workforce Planning capability, involving increased collaboration between the Ministry and other health organisations.
The Report: Building Workforce Planning Capability was distributed in January 2019 and contained the feedback received on the discussion paper. This feedback indicated broad support for a capability program of work and identified six key areas of focus moving forward: developing workforce planning capability in NSW Health, developing workforce planning capacity in NSW Health, a consistent state-wide approach to workforce planning, driving local process improvement, maintaining a future focus and a strong and engaged network of stakeholders.
The Action Plan: Building Workforce Planning Capability contains targeted actions to address the challenges and opportunities identified in each of the six focus areas identified in the Report. It was officially released in January 2020, however numerous actions within the plan had already commenced in late 2019.
In April 2021 the Workforce Planning and Talent Development branch reviewed the Action Plan and associated goals and objectives. The Action Plan Status Update contains updates on progress against each of those items and identifies the next steps.