Workforce & Rostering — Staffing Analysis

Modelling current and future anaesthesia staffing requirements

Tallaght University Hospital's Peri-operative Directorate gained an evidence-based view of its anaesthesia staffing requirement, and a flexible model for testing additional theatres and six-day surgery before committing to change.

of eRostering data analysed: 3 years
of relevant sessions classified as GA: 88%
surgery staffing quantified: 6-day

The challenge

The Peri-operative Directorate at Tallaght University Hospital needed a clearer understanding of its current and future anaesthesia staffing requirements.

The department was experiencing staffing pressure across operating rooms, ICU and other clinical commitments, while also seeking to reduce reliance on agency and locum cover. Planned service expansion added another dimension, with additional theatres and extended operating weeks potentially creating significant new staffing requirements.

The hospital needed a flexible, evidence-based model that could establish the current staffing requirement and test how this would change under different future operating scenarios.

Our approach

We worked closely with clinical and operational leadership to understand how anaesthesia resources were deployed and the scenarios the Directorate needed to evaluate. Our analysis combined workforce plans, staffing data and three years of detailed eRostering data.

Reviewed anaesthetist workplans, distinguishing between clinical and non-clinical time.

Analysed WTE commitments across operating rooms, ICU, pain management and other services.

Used eRostering data to quantify sessions worked and understand variation by day and month.

Identified the level of activity being covered by locum staff.

Cleansed and classified session data to ensure the analysis accurately reflected relevant anaesthesia activity.

Developed a flexible model linking staffing requirements to different service configurations and operating scenarios, validated with clinical and operational management.

The solution

The resulting staffing model provided the Directorate with an evidence-based view of the resources required to support its existing service.

More importantly, the model allowed different future scenarios to be tested, including phased theatre openings, additional operating rooms and six-day surgery across multiple operating room sites. This gave the hospital a practical tool for understanding the workforce implications of service expansion before changes were implemented.

From workforce data to workforce decisions

By combining detailed roster data with clinical workplans and future service scenarios, Tallaght University Hospital gained a clearer basis for making anaesthesia workforce decisions as its peri-operative services evolve.

What the model made testable

Rather than a single establishment figure, the model linked staffing requirements to the service configuration being considered.

Modelled operating scenarios

Scenario	What the model established
Current service	The staffing required to support existing operating room, ICU, pain and other commitments.
Phased theatre openings	How the staffing requirement changes as additional theatres come on stream.
Additional operating rooms	The incremental workforce needed for each further operating room supported.
Six-day surgery	The staffing requirement for extended operating weeks across multiple operating room sites.
Locum and agency reliance	The proportion of activity currently covered by locum staff, and the substantive staffing this represents.

Key finding

A single flexible model established the current anaesthesia staffing requirement and quantified the workforce implications of service expansion before decisions were made.

Outcomes

What changed for the organisation once the platform was live.

Current requirement
clarified across the anaesthesia service
Future visibility
of staffing as additional theatres open
Six-day surgery
staffing requirement quantified
88% of sessions
identified as general anaesthetic activity
Locum activity
quantified within the staffing picture
Flexible planning model
for evaluating service configurations

Facing a similar challenge?

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