Trying to write a blog post about domestic abuse is not an easy task (thankfully not as hard as it must be for those who are experiencing it in their home lives, or those who spend their working day supporting those who need it).
Essex County Council commission various support services in relation to domestic abuse, two of these providers were interested to know what the future demand for their services might look like, and whether we could identify when the service was at risk of being overwhelmed.
They were struggling to understand what staffing capacity they had and if this would meet future needs so we offered to develop a resource and capacity model.
The model requires minimal input from the service providers, it is simple to use and works on the following basis:
And uses eight inputs:
I designed a user-friendly front end for each service, which allowed them to quickly and easily enter their monthly data. Based on a set of calculations, the model output would then indicate how stretched the service would be on a monthly basis for the subsequent six months. The model also allows the service to test out various scenarios, such as an increase in demand, or high sickness rates within the team. This now enables the two services to manage their caseloads most effectively, work collaboratively with each other and pool resources. And even potentially be used to secure additional funding, all of which will help to avoid the warning level where demand for service provision exceeds capacity.
So as not to break blogging tradition too much, I will conclude with a quote from someone wise.
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking start paving another one” – Dolly Parton.
Leave a comment