Why Every Trust Needs a Job Plan Diagnostic
In this article, we discuss why the SARD Job Plan Diagnostic toolkit exists. It’s the simplest possible starting point: A detailed assessment of whether the data in your job plans is fit for purpose.
Why NHS Trusts Should Aim Higher Than 95%
In this article, we discuss how with the right support and focus, 100% compliance is achievable.
Why Moving from Agency Staff to Bank Staff is Just Another Sticking Plaster
In this article, we discuss how it’s time to reimagine the NHS as a dynamic, operational tool to create a system where every staff member is supported, every patient receives excellent care, and every organisation operates at its best with minimal reliance on agency and bank staff.
Why 95% Job Planning Compliance Is Only the Beginning
In this article, we discuss that while 95% compliance is an important milestone when it's hit, but it shouldn’t be the destination.
Culture First: The Quiet Power Behind Productivity Gains
In this article, we discuss how when the culture shifts within a Trust, systems start to work. Data starts to matter. And productivity becomes more than a KPI; it becomes a way of working.
Before and After: What Do Diagnostics Tell Us About Workforce Productivity
In this article, we discuss the process of SARD diagnostics. The bottomline is: if your data is unreliable, your plans will be too. So we run the diagnostics not only at the beginning, but then we run them again once all the plans are in. The results are incredible!
Training That Sticks: The Overlooked Foundation of NHS Productivity
In this article, we discuss the quiet force at work that is sometimes overlooked, but is absolutely essential: Training.
100% Job Planning Completion – What That Really Means for NHS Productivity
In this article, we discuss how our work at a Trust in the northwest of England has 100% job plans. It’s a story of clarity driving productivity.
The NHS Needs Fewer Targets – But Not Like This
In this article, Phil Bottle takes a look at NHS’s new 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance. Fewer national targets? Sounds good in theory. But removing workforce planning, community care, and mental health priorities while expecting better elective, emergency, and GP performance? That’s not reform – that’s wishful thinking.
NHS Workforce Planning: The £10bn Elephant We’re Ignoring
In this article, Phil Bottle discusses how NHS Workforce Planning isn't working even with £10bn of public money and 1.7 million staff especially now that it's been told to 'go faster'. He talks about why we're pretending this is normal, how we got here, and why there might actually be hope.
