Mrs Bronwyn Bartholomew1, Dr Kellie Stockton1, Ms Rhiannon Barnes1
1Metro South Health, Brisbane, Australia
Biography:
Bronwyn Bartholomew is a Workforce Development Officer at Metro South Health with a clinical background in Nutrition and Dietetics and postgraduate qualifications in Clinical Redesign. She is passionate about improving patient experience, strengthening allied health capability, and contributing to sustainable service improvements. Bronwyn has presented nationally on models of care and patient-reported experience measures and is committed to shaping a future-ready allied health workforce through education, innovation, and retention strategies.
Abstract:
Workforce planning is widely accepted as good strategic practice. However, recent literature offers limited guidance for allied health, particularly in the context of contemporary models of care and anticipated workforce shortages. As a metro Hospital and Health Service (HHS) embarks on infrastructure expansion across multiple facilities, the need for a strategic approach to workforce planning has never been more critical. A tailored approach, sensitive to local context, was used to develop a comprehensive workforce plan with predicted staffing requirements to be operationalised by facilities. Collaboration with leaders of allied health professions generated consensus on minimum staffing requirements, informed by literature, local service data, and professional expertise. Facility Directors of Allied Health refined these staffing profiles, incorporating smaller professions and essential strategic roles relating to clinical education and workforce development. Extensive allied health workforce mapping across the HHS provided an overview of diversity, distribution, and governance structures, as well as a scaffold to measure growth and track workforce vacancies. Staffing profiles were developed for five inpatient units aligned to hospital expansions, facilitating a standardised approach to determining workforce needs across facilities. A workforce strategy was developed, articulating five pillars to meet workforce requirements aligned to the expansion program, and proactively address anticipated workforce shortages: Utilisation and optimisation of the trainee workforce, Recruitment and retention, Models of care, Clinical assistants, and Education and training. This method of workforce planning has been integrated across the HHS, facilitating efficient workforce planning while ensuring equitable access to allied health services throughout and beyond infrastructure expansions.