What is role redesign?

Role redesign, an integral part of service redesign, involves the development of new and amended roles. It involves creating new roles, expanding the depth and breadth of roles, or moving tasks up or down a traditional uni-disciplinary ladder.

Innovative new and amended roles have brought clear benefits across health and social care, resulting in improved services for patients and more rewarding careers for staff.

The Changing Workforce Programme and continuing national role redesign projects

From 2001 to March 2005 the Changing Workforce Programme (CWP) pioneered and mainstreamed role redesign. CWP was a national workforce modernisation programme that supported the NHS and other health and social care organisations to test, evaluate, implement and spread role redesign.

CWP was one of the NHS Modernisation Agency’s New Ways of Working teams, which worked across health and social care to deliver service improvements that benefit both staff and patients, focusing on the key workforce priorities outlined in the HR in the NHS Plan. Much of this learning from the development of new ways of working is available on this WISE Workforce site, which will be continually developed to include new learning and latest developments about workforce modernisation, including role redesign.

Over the year 2004/05 the work of the NHS Modernisation Agency shifted from a national to a local level; however several streams of specific role redesign work are continuing in new host organisations from April 2005. These projects are listed below, along with the new host organisation, project lead and contact telephone number.

§       Large Scale Workforce Change (including role redesign tools and database of workshop facilitators)

NHS Employers

Lynda Scott, 07789 653308

§       Career Framework for the NHS

Skills for Health

Nina Lowe, 07786 917769

Enquiries: Jane Lawson, 07789 653307

§       Mental Health

NIMHE National Workforce Programme (NWP), National Institute for Mental Health in England

Steve Manders, 0771 7130496

Enquiries: Analeize Lawson, 07789 935672

§       National Practitioner Programme

North West London SHA

Jackie Younger, 07789 653360

consisting of:

New ways of working in surgery

North West London SHA

Jackie Younger, 07789 653360

Medical care practitioner

South West London SHA

Robert Standfield, 07919 542366

New ways of working in anaesthesia

Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA

Sarah Copley, 07775 560249

New ways of working in critical care

North West London SHA

Carol Woods, 07786 961762

New ways of working in endoscopy and assistant theatre practitioners

North West London SHA

Patrick Dignam, 07786 961738

Further information about role redesign

For further information about role redesign please click here to reach the Resources section.