The development of a more equitable approach to resource allocation and manpower planning for undergraduate teaching in a UK medical school

Context Resource allocation and manpower planning in the clinical faculty o f a UK medical school. Purpose To design a model, which is perceived to be fair, to determine indi cative undergraduate reaching budgets to departments within the school from university resources and to specialty care groups of the main university h ospital from service increment for teaching (SIFT) resources, and to aid ma npower planning. Method The student load for each department is measured in full-time-equiva lent student numbers (FTEs) for each specialty and compared with the total load for the whole curriculum to derive each department's percentage share of available undergraduate reaching resources. Data on staff numbers availa ble for teaching, both from the school and NHS, are also included. Student. load and teaching capacity are then compared. Result Undergraduate teaching resources relate to student load in the resou rce allocation process, and changes to the course are automatically reflect ed. Staff data, when compared with student load, facilitate rational planni ng of establishment levels to meet the teaching needs of the undergraduate curriculum. Of the respondents to a survey of heads of departments and the faculty's management board, 88% agreed that it was a better approach to res ource allocation than the previous historical basis. Present limitations and scope for development Data are currently entered ma nually but will be transmitted electronically in the future via the Web. Fu rther consideration will be given to the possible inclusion in the model of weighting factors for different types of teaching and to how appropriate m easures of quality may be incorporated into the resource allocation process . Conclusion The model, despite some limitations, is a cost-effective and pra gmatic management tool.