Clinical care ratios: differences in allied health roles in New Zealand
Seamus Gary McNicholl
A * , Duncan Reid B and Felicity Bright C
A
B
C
Abstract
Allied health workforce planning is difficult and needs to be informed by data. Clinical care ratios (CCR) are commonly used to differentiate between clinical and non-clinical demands. This study aimed to identify trends within and across allied health disciplines and determine if the CCR differed by allied health discipline within one New Zealand district.
Means of CCR data across six allied health roles over 1 year were compared using a one-way ANOVA. Post hoc analysis was conducted to determine role differences.
There were statistically significant differences between the CCR of the six allied health disciplines. Both occupational therapy and physiotherapy had bimodal distributions of CCR. Allied health assistants had the lowest mean and median CCR.
Non-clinical activity represents a significant proportion of allied health activity within the New Zealand hospital system. Insights into the CCR of allied health disciplines may support more effective workforce planning and enable service leaders to match the right task to the right profession.
Keywords: activity data, allied health assistant, allied health professional, clinical care ratio, delegation, non-clinical activity, planning, service capacity, service demand, workforce, workplace activity.
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