Medical‐workforce planning: an art or science?

Purpose Illustrates how the NHS workforce‐review team looks at the area of medical workforce planning and some of the problems that planners face. Design/methodology/approach Describes a structure for workforce planning and examines some of the challenges workforce planners and those working in the human‐resources field face. Findings Argues that workforce planning is more than simply number crunching; it requires the application of both art and science skills. Practical applications Demonstrates how the workforce is calculated in terms of the need, demand and supply for the future. Social implications Highlights the important advantages, for individual organizations as well as for society as a whole, which can result from successful workforce planning. Originality/value Fills a gap in the literature about whether workforce planning is an art or science.