Job Conslultant

                      A guide to consultant job planning

1. Introduction

1.1  Healthcare across the world is under the most intense scrutiny for value obtained; 

that is, the outcomes it delivers for the investment made in it. The NHS in England 

is undergoing one of the most wide-ranging reorganisations in its history aimed 

at enhancing quality whist reducing costs. Although the landscape of healthcare 

is likely to change significantly, the aim of achieving continuous improvements in 

quality and outcomes for patients is a necessity for doctors, managers, healthcare 

staff and the public. 

1.2  The distinction between the management of care and the management of resources 

is becoming increasingly narrow. Now, more than ever before, consultants and 

managers (medical and general) have a joint responsibility to work closely together 

to provide the best possible care within the resources available to them. The 

consultant job plan, the central plank of the consultant contract, is a key mechanism 

through which this shared responsibility can be agreed, monitored and delivered.

1.3  A job plan can be described in simple terms as a prospective, professional 

agreement that sets out the duties, responsibilities, accountabilities and objectives 

of the consultant and the support and resources provided by the employer for the 

coming year. However, in order to drive measurable and sustainable improvements 

in quality, an effective job plan needs to be more than a high level timetable 

which sets out in general terms the range of a consultant’s activity. It is vital that it 

articulates the relationship between the organisation and the consultant and the 

desired impact on patient care. The key to this is the use of SMART objectives 

(see Section 3).

1.4  The job planning process should align the objectives of the NHS, the organisation, 

clinical teams (and in the case of clinical academics, their higher education 

institution) and individuals in order to allow, consultants, clinical academics, 

managers and the wider NHS team to plan and deliver innovative, safe, responsive, 

efficient and high-quality care. At the same time the job plan should provide 

opportunities to develop both personally and professionally to help drive quality 

improvement in line with the present and future needs of patients. 

1.5  Consultants are crucial to the success of the NHS. The move towards the majority 

of care being delivered by fully-trained doctors requires consultants to deliver 

more hands-on care than might have been the case before. This requires a more 

innovative approach to the working life of today’s consultant.

1.6  The prospect of revalidation will drive a greater transparency with consultants 

demonstrating that they remain fit to practise, bringing a renewed focus on 

professional development and demonstrating improved outcomes for patients.

1.7  All consultants work as part of a team of consultants, whether this is to provide 

emergency cover as part of a rota, or, as is increasingly seen, working as part of 

a multi-consultant team sharing the day-to-day responsibility for patients. A team-based approach to job planning, where these responsibilities are shared by all 

the consultants is being increasingly used to deliver more efficient and effective 

healthcare. Matching workforce availability to activity will bring greater efficiencies 

and quality to patient care, as well as making allowances for a better work–life 

balance for consultants. 

    

2. The job plan in context

A consultant job plan should be a prospective agreement that sets out a consultant’s duties, responsibilities 

and objectives for the coming year.”“…consultant job plans should set out agreed personal objectives and their relationship with the employing organisation’s wider service objectives.”

3.Preparing for the job plan

3.1  Preparation is the key to effective job planning. The teams (consultants and general managers in the NHS and fellow academics in the higher education sector) should meet beforehand so that job planning flows naturally from organisational and team objectives and that job plans are not drawn up in isolation. Some of the areas the team should explore include:

• mapping the current commissioning and contracting environment, including expectations for the coming year and beyond

• reviewing the previous year and identifying what went well and where there might be areas for improvement across the organisation/directorate

• identifying the actions and resources needed to improve quality

• reviewing areas of strength and weakness and methods to maximise the opportunities and minimise the possible threats

• identifying the priorities the organisation(s) and the team(s) want to deliver and the shared objectives which might influence job plans

• setting out what will be needed to meet clinical governance requirements, including education, training and research

• improving the use of data in setting objectives and the job plan. The BMA’s consultant job planning diarycan help to provide information on work load 

• linking to personal objectives around appraisal

• determine any known or likely significant demands on consultant time away from the trust (for example, senior college roles) that will impact on service delivery.

3.2  Organisations can take practical steps to ease the assimilation of job and business planning by harmonising the job planning and appraisal cycles and strengthening the link between personal development plans and business plans where appropriate. Induction programmes can provide an opportunity to emphasise 

the importance of the job planning process as a means of linking the aims and objectives of the service to individual activity.

3.3  Teams could also consider benchmarking their job planning framework with those of others within the organisation, or even in different organisations, to secure consistency and benefit from good practice. Transparency of the outcome of job planning allows consultants to have confidence in the process. For example, integrating job planning across teams in different specialties can lead to improved theat are use and reduce delays. Teams should reflect upon what they want to achieve over the year, their shared objectives and link the outcome to individual job plans.