FAQ
Children
Question:
All our preschool children are seen in clinic for assessment and therapy, there isn’t a clinic option so do we select preschool assessment? The numbers seem to be the same for assessment and therapy so can we split out if we want to or just use the preschool assessment for all our clinic work?
Answer: Yes, that’s correct
Question:
Our children’s team band 7 leads have 1 set day per week for their team lead role so do we put them as ‘highly specialist’ rather than team lead so the 40% isn’t taken out for CSM and put one day of their time as non-clinical instead?
Answer: That would work, but will it give sufficient time to do all of the team leadership work? I would suggest that it won’t and would suggest splitting the day across their various clinical areas and allowing the 40% to account for the time needed to undertake the team leadership elements of their work.
Another way is to give them 20% as highly specialist and add in the additional number of hours they have for operational leadership under other.
Question:
Does the quality contact include EHCPs and is this variation accounted for, or should we add in extra time for EHCPS?
Answer: Mostly it is included but if someone does a lot of EHCPs or a lot of very complex EHCPs, you can put these down as highly specialist assessments in the ‘my typical week tab’.
Question:
Our stammering training is a parent group and is recorded as a clinical contact as part of the episode of care. Do we record this is indirect clinical contact or should we record it as a group contact?
Answer: For now use group contacts but the tool may need to be amended to include parent workshops/ groups as the number of contacts will be higher than a typical group.
Adults
Question:
Brain injury is not currently included. Would you be able to add this or shall we pick an area with a similar number of contacts?
Answer: TBI hasn’t been developed specifically at this stage (it can be) but for now pick an area with a similar number of contacts and use that.
Question:
In my typical week FEES and VF are list but not tracheostomy listed. Where would we count this as we have a couple of therapists whose rota specifically includes tracheostomy cover?
Answer: Use ICCU
Question:
Our band 5’s are going through their dysphagia training is this included in their 20% CSM time? If not, how should we capture it?
Answer: Add it under ‘other’ in the job plan.
Question:
For those that are supporting dysphagia training, we are putting the band 5’s in as a student to reflect the time needed to support them. Is that the correct way to capture it?
Answer: Yes
Question:
Band 5 rotation drop down in ‘Band’ gives no CSM time, why is this?
Answer: Select Band 5 NQP, regardless of whether they are in a rotation, if they are NQP and Band 5 rotation if they are not NQP. Band 5 (non NQP) does not include specific CSM as explained in the manual.
General Questions: CSM
Question:
CSM time states that “Band 7 Team Lead staff are expected to have a number of staff whom they manage as direct reports:
What number was this based on, our team leads vary in number of direct reports?
Answer: This varies based on the number of days that the Band 7 works. No fewer than 3 and no more than 9.
Question:
In terms of meetings, does the 40% band 7 team lead CSM time cover to all meetings both directly related to SLT and the wider MDT? For example, in Stroke there are a number of meetings such as the stroke leads meeting and stroke quality group as well clinical governance and currently, we have included that in the 40% time.
Answer: Yes it does, but Stroke can carry a heavy meeting load and so some pragmatism needs to be applied. I’d suggest comparing the load to other team leads and if it is similar not adding anything separately but if it is higher agree what should be included.
Question:
Does Band 6 CSM include giving supervision as it is not explicitly state in manual?
Answer: This does not include supervision of staff. If supporting NQPs, select preceptorship development in line 48 of the job planning tool. If they manage or supervise others add time in ‘other’.
Question:
Do you have a more detailed example of what is explicitly included in band 6/7 CSM in your Trust? If not, how have you approached it with colleagues?
Answer: We do not you can either:
Create a list and total up the number of hours to ensure that it broadly fits or you can consider what is business as usual and consider this to be accounted for CSM and only add in what is considered above and beyond this e.g. as new guidance comes out e.g. CAS/ DLD/ Thickened fluids, leads will need additional time to keep up to date and disseminate information.
Some Team leads e.g. Stroke will also have additional requirements to their role e.g. SNAPP which should be additional.
General Questions: Other
Question:
How much travel time is included?
Answer: Approx 20 mins each way per session (am or pm) – add any additional time under other.
Question:
Is resource making included in the quality contact or do we need to put additional time in the SPA for this?
Answer: Yes, it is included.
Question:
In ‘my typical week’ is the output figure for the number of groups contacts the number of groups rather than the number of contacts.
Answer: Covers both number of groups and number of contacts.
Question:
Are telephone contacts included as part of quality contacts?
Answer: Yes, but this is not a model the developing Trust used massively If we use this often, the developer can add another line for telehealth. If part of triage include in DCC (indirect).
Question:
For some colleagues in split bands we have completed two job plans for, but overall the contacts are low across both – is this because mandatory training etc double counted? Any work around suggestions?
Answer: Where possible, there should be just one but split banded posts do make this more difficult. You will need to halve the amount of time for appraisal, mandatory training and team meetings etc, so it is not double counted.
Question:
Is the tool based on 44 weeks per year?
Answer: Yes, as outlined in the NHSE 2017 job planning paper
Question:
What is the ‘non clinical’ line in my typical week as it does not adjust the number of contacts. Is this is for administrative tasks?
Answer: Some staff have timetabled hours as ‘non-clinical’ or ‘admin’. In reality this is clinical administration and as such fits within the clinical contact. The tool makes this assumption and uses the data from the other aspects of ‘my typical week’ to generate the number of contacts in each area for the year ahead.
Question:
Annual Leave Allocation - How do you recommend accounting for individual staff members who have different annual leave entitlements based on their length of service (e.g. 33 days for those with over 10 years)? Is there a way to reflect this variation within the spreadsheet?
Answer: The tool uses the NHSE recommended average. If this is causing a specific issue for your service you can add anything above the basic as 'annual leave' under other. It has not caused any issues for our team.
Question:
Understanding “My Typical Week” - I understand this section draws from the DCC total, but I’m struggling to interpret how best to complete it. For example, some staff have entered “Special School Assessment” for Tuesday morning, but left the afternoon blank as they typically do admin then. Should this section be completed more hypothetically e.g. entering “Special School Assessment” for the full day to reflect the overall activity, even if part of it is admin? Is the intention that this section captures high-level patterns rather than a strict calendar?
Answer: Where an admin session is specifically related to a face to face session in an individual's timetable then it is best to record this under the clinical area. In the example you give that would be 'Special School Assessment'. This is because the work they complete during that time is clinical admin. If, however, the admin session relates to a range of clinical admin then ideally split that time across all areas of the work for that individual. If that's too difficult just leave it as 'non clinical' and the tool will do the rest.
Question:
New to Follow-Up Ratios - Our Operations Manager is interested in understanding the ratios per 7.5 hours for each category, particularly the new-to-follow-up contact ratio, and how this is calculated. While we’re meeting KPIs for new appointments in paediatric community services, we’re experiencing long waits for follow-ups. Do you have any advice on how the job plans might help us better contextualise or address this imbalance?
Answer: The SLT e-Job Planning Tool does not consider whether an appointment is a new or a review. Time taken is broadly the same regardless of which category the assessment falls into. The data on news and reviews should be available to Service Managers via existing data streams. The number of available clinical contacts for the year ahead is generated by taking each member of staff's Job Plan and adding them together. This data can be used to compare the service capacity (data from the SLT e-Job Planning Tool) against expressed service demand from other data sources (waiting lists, data from systems eg Rio, Oasis PAS etc) and service specific data (collected, collated and analysed by the service).