Advantages and disadvantages of workforce models.
| Workforce model | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Acute medicine and specialty expansion | Good evidence of effective improvement of quality of care | Long lead-in time, especially for expansion of acute medicine workforce |
| Favoured by most of the current consultant workforce | Loss of generalist skills could prolong admission for complex patients if they have several consults | |
| Facilitates delivery of community specialist care | High cost | |
| Present in many large hospitals | Skill gap for acute medicine and geriatric medicine | |
| GP expansion | Reduction in hospital admission | GP workforce in crisis, making sufficient recruitment unlikely |
| Provides care closer to home | Evidence for reduction in admissions poor | |
| Closer integration with social care | High cost | |
| Other healthcare worker expansion | Reduced workforce costs | Model unproven in UK |
| Improved continuity of care | Concerns about effects on training capacity | |
| Expansion of training schemes already underway | Public fear of ‘doctors on the cheap’ | |
| Hospital generalist expansion | Flexible workforce | Reduction in specialist workforce |
| Reduced referral | Possible reduction in quality of care | |
| Closer working with community | Costs and effectiveness unclear |