Six Steps Service and Workforce Modelling Toolkit

The Six Steps Service and Workforce Modelling Toolkit provides a structured, step-by-step approach to help health and care teams in Cheshire and Merseyside align their workforce planning with service transformation goals. 

Purpose

A structured Excel-based tool to help health and care leaders design, plan, and deliver future service models with the right workforce in place. It supports evidence-based workforce transformation aligned to changing service needs.

Who is it for?

  • NHS/ICB transformation leads
  • Workforce planners and HR teams
  • Service managers designing new care pathways
  • Providers and Place-based partnerships

Tips

  • Co-produce with clinical teams and service users.
  • Revisit iteratively as services or funding change.
  • Link with Place-wide workforce strategies.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Define the service model
  • Purpose: Establish a clear vision for the future service model.
  • How to use the toolkit: Complete the Step 1 tab to describe your current service offer, unmet needs, and ambitions. This helps surface the drivers for change and clarify the population you serve.
  • Output: A shared understanding of the service transformation goal, target population, and scope.
Step 2: Define functions and activities
  • Purpose: Break down the service model into core functions and activities.
  • How to use the toolkit: Use the Step 2 tab to list what the service needs to do to achieve its aims – e.g., assessment, early intervention, community outreach.
  • Output: A detailed view of service functions that informs what type of workforce is required.
Step 3: Identify required roles and capabilities
  • Purpose: Map the workforce needed to deliver those functions.
  • How to use the toolkit: Populate the Step 3 tab by linking roles (e.g. peer supporters, nurses, care coordinators) to each activity. You may use competency frameworks or national role profiles to define requirements.
  • Output: A draft model workforce that reflects the service design.
Step 4: Model the workforce numbers
  • Purpose: Quantify how many staff are needed based on demand, caseload, or coverage assumptions.
  • How to use the toolkit: Use the Step 4 tab, where simple modelling logic and editable assumptions (e.g. contacts per day, service hours) calculate workforce numbers.
  • Output: Estimated workforce numbers and skill mix to support workforce planning.
Step 5: Compare current and future state
  • Purpose: Identify the gap between your current workforce and the future model.
  • How to use the toolkit: In the Step 5 tab, compare existing roles and numbers with the modelled future need. Note any critical gaps, overcapacity, or training needs.
  • Output: A workforce gap analysis and priorities for action.
Step 6: Develop the workforce plan
  • Purpose: Create an action plan to transition to the future workforce.
  • How to use the toolkit: Use the Step 6 tab to build a SMART workforce plan – actions might include recruitment, upskilling, redesign, or collaboration across Place or system partners.
  • Output: A clear, time-bound workforce development plan aligned with service transformation.

Practical tips

  • Co-produce it: Engage frontline staff, service users, and workforce leads at every stage.
  • Use evidence: Bring in activity data, population projections, and demand trends to strengthen modelling assumptions.
  • Review iteratively: Use the toolkit as a living document. Revisit it regularly as assumptions, models, or contexts change.
  • Link to other strategies: Align outputs with system-level workforce strategies, People Plans, and digital or estates transformation workstreams.

Who should use it

  • Transformation Programme Managers
  • Clinical or Operational Leads
  • Workforce Planners or HR Business Partners
  • Commissioners and Contract Managers
  • Place-based Partnership Leads

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