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Why horizon scanning matters for the workforce
Horizon scanning is the practice of looking beyond today's pressures early enough to shape tomorrow's health and social care workforce. The hub exists to gather signals of change, such as new technologies, shifting patient expectations and emerging service models, so that planners can weigh them before they become urgent problems.
For the CfWI, this work connects national policy with the practical question of who will be needed, where, and with which skills. Lessons from one country's experience, such as the ultrasound programme discussed above, can inform decisions in another, giving workforce planning a longer and more informed view.
CfWI Joint Action work shared at EU expert conference 19 November 2015
Matt Edwards, Head of Horizon Scanning and International, and John Fellows, Senior Consultant, joined an EU Health Workforce Expert event in Brussels earlier this week (16 November). The meeting brought together leaders in health workforce planning from across Europe to...
Working across Europe
The European work described in the news reflects a shared problem. Health systems across the continent face similar pressures on their workforce, even when their structures differ. Joint Action work allows countries to compare approaches and learn from pilots that others have already run.
The hub brings that learning into one place, so that a lesson from a pilot study can be found by a planner who was not part of the original project. Our introduction to horizon scanning explains how this exchange is organised.
Ideas bank and the wider community
The hub is built around shared contributions. Members can add their ideas about the future, promote existing ideas they find useful, and collect and export ideas from the bank for their own planning. Each contribution adds to a common picture of the forces likely to shape health and social care.
Read the latest news to see how these ideas are already being tested in Europe, or visit the blog for commentary on how the community's work is developing.
Sharing lessons learned in Europe about ultrasound scanning 21 January 2016
Private ultrasound is a personal choice for patients who do not want to wait for an NHS appointment. There are multiple private ultrasound clinics in London such as Sonoworld and International Ultrasound Services offering amongst other ultrasound examinations breast and pregnancy ultrasounds. Our Senior Consultants, visited Brussels earlier this month to work with colleagues on the Joint Action ultrasound programme. The visit followed the CfWI’s role supporting a pilot study as part of Work...
Horizon 2035 showcased at Health Workforce Summit 17 November 2015
The CfWI’s flagship Horizon 2035 programme was on display at the 2015 Health Workforce Summit, which took place in Oslo, Norway, on 13 November. Dr Graham Willis, Head of Research and Development, joined representatives from across Europe to present at this...
The CfWI is an independent agency working on specific projects for the Department of Health and is an operating unit within Mouchel Management Consulting Limited.
Looking ahead
The three stories in the news share one direction: planning the health and social care workforce with more evidence from beyond national borders. Each event, from the ultrasound exchange to the Oslo summit, adds another source of insight for the next round of decisions.
Explore the hub regularly to follow new contributions, and return to the homepage to see the latest updates as they are published.
Ways to take part in the hub
Participation does not require specialist training. Anyone interested in the future of the workforce can start by reading the current work and deciding where they can add a view. The most useful contributions tend to be specific: a clear description of a change, the evidence behind it, and a note on who would be affected.
- Add your ideas about the future
- Promote existing ideas that deserve wider attention
- Collect and export ideas from the bank for your own planning
Once you have an account, you can register to join the community, or take a tour of the hub before you begin.
Reading the Horizon 2035 scenarios
Horizon 2035 is the CfWI's flagship programme for thinking through the long term. Its scenarios are not forecasts. They describe several plausible futures for health and social care, so that workforce plans can be tested against more than one outcome rather than a single assumed path.
A plan that works in only one future is a bet, not a plan.
The scenarios are most useful when read alongside the Horizon 2035 overview and the detailed Horizon 2035 scenarios. Together they show how the same change, such as a new diagnostic technology, could affect staffing in very different ways depending on the wider context.
The people and the language behind the work
Horizon scanning relies on a team that can move between research, policy and international partnerships. The horizon scanning team brings these strands together, and the work reported in the news shows how that mix of roles works in practice.
Terms used across the hub can be unfamiliar to readers outside the field. The glossary sets out the main concepts, so that a discussion of scenarios, challenges or workforce modelling means the same thing to everyone taking part.