Workforce Consulting
Operational support to improve workforce performance and productivity
Litmus partners with NHS trusts and health boards to fix the operational bottlenecks that drive up workforce costs and hold back productivity.
Workforce consulting
Closing the gap between strategic workforce planning and operational delivery
We support NHS partners to transform workforce operations, improve productivity and meet ambitious cost improvement goals.
Our teams combine management consultancy-style insights with direct, hands-on support to implement new processes and deliver lasting system change.
As a long-established and trusted partner to the NHS, Litmus has proven experience delivering complex system-wide workforce and operational improvement programmes, grounded in the realities of frontline service delivery.
We can help you with
- Strategic workforce planning
- Clinical job planning
- Demand and capacity modelling
- Recruitment efficiency programmes
NHS
trusted workforce partner
4
core consulting areas
1
practical delivery approach
Consulting services
Focused support for complex workforce challenges
Each programme is shaped around the service context, leadership priorities and operational constraints of the organisation.
01
Strategic Workforce Planning
Strategic guidance and support to carefully plan and deliver complex workforce and organisational change.
02
Clinical Job Planning
Hands-on support to accurately align clinical capacity with service demand, team and clinical priorities.
03
Demand & Capacity Modelling
Data-driven models that reflect true demand, capacity constraints and pathway complexity.
04
Recruitment Efficiency
Support to optimise the end-to-end recruitment process, headcount and staffing costs.
How we support delivery
Practical workforce support, grounded in operational reality
Our work gives leaders the evidence needed to make informed decisions and gives services the practical support needed to implement change.
Strategic Workforce Planning
Strategic guidance and support to plan and deliver complex workforce and organisational change.
Our strategic workforce planning services are grounded in operational delivery.
We work at service level, providing the detailed data insights and risk profiling executive teams need to make confident, informed decisions on changes to long-established operational models, in line with national policy and workforce trajectory targets.
Whether your priority is workforce cost reduction or improving planned care performance, Litmus has a strong track record of safe, effective delivery in complex operational environments.
Clinical Job Planning
Hands-on support to accurately align clinical capacity with service demand.
While job planning best practice is well established across the NHS, effective implementation is increasingly compromised by capacity pressures and competing clinical priorities.
Our specialist clinical job planning service provides the expert hands-on support needed to ensure consultants have agreed, up-to-date job plans aligned to service demand, team and clinical priorities.
Commissioning external support means contractual expectations can be met without adding pressure to internal teams.
Demand & Capacity Modelling
Expert support to develop accurate, data-driven models that reflect real service complexity.
We work closely at departmental level to quantify demand, map patient flow and identify capacity risks, developing flexible, predictive models that respond to changing service needs.
Accurate demand and capacity modelling is critical to understanding true workforce requirements, enabling more confident planning and sustainable service delivery.
Recruitment Efficiency
Support to transform the efficiency of the end-to-end recruitment process.
With an increasing shortage of workers, efficient recruitment and resource utilisation is essential to meet the current and future need for health and social care services.
Supported by analytical, HR and finance experts, our teams can review hiring processes and provide on-the-ground support to streamline recruitment pipelines, accelerate time-to-hire, minimise cost-per-hire and enhance the candidate experience.
“
Litmus has provided invaluable support and strategic guidance during a challenging period for our Trust, helping us to implement necessary changes without compromising workforce stability.
The results they have achieved are exceptional and demonstrate their ability to drive impactful operational change with care and realise significant cost savings.
CEO, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
FAQs
Workforce Consulting FAQs
Can Litmus provide rate benchmarking?
Yes. Litmus has extensive experience providing detailed rate benchmarking and insights into regional pay rate trends and thresholds. Our analysis is based on accurate data of actual bank and agency rates paid, rather than standard published rate cards, helping trusts understand true market position and identify realistic cost reduction opportunities.
Why outsource job planning?
Outsourcing job planning relieves the burden on internal teams, freeing up capacity. A true end-to-end service focus is enabled when a workforce partner takes full accountability for the process. Consultants also tend to engage more openly with an independent, neutral party.
Why prioritise job planning?
Effective job planning enables clinical time and clinic scheduling to be accurately optimised, reducing capacity-related cancellations and the need for short shift cover. Consultants with job plans also have higher job satisfaction and more equitable workloads, with protected CPD time and less burnout risk.
Talk to Litmus
Need support with workforce planning, productivity or operational change?
Speak to Litmus about the workforce challenge you are facing and the outcomes you need to deliver.
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