Profiling the allied health staffing of Queensland Health inpatient general rehabilitation units.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper was to profile staffing levels for allied health (AH) professional and support staff in Queensland Health inpatient general rehabilitation services (at a given point-in-time) and compare them against established profession-specific standards and guidelines in order to provide a reference for future workforce planning for these services.


METHODS
A statewide analysis of AH staffing in Queensland Health inpatient general rehabilitation services was undertaken during June-August 2011. Reported full-time equivalent positions (FTE) were compared to several established national and international benchmarks. Patient activity data was used to calculate the average length of stay (ALOS) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores on admission.


RESULTS
Sixteen facilities reported 202 FTE for a total of 466 general rehabilitation beds, with a resultant average workforce ratio of 0.43 FTE/bed. While several professional groups within specific services met established benchmarks, the majority failed to reach recommended staffing ratios. More than half the workforce (53%) was entry-level or consolidating clinicians. The FTE/bed ratios were compared against both patient ALOS and FIM scores on admission and showed a poor correlation.


CONCLUSIONS
Across all included services statewide, there was significant variance in AH staffing levels and diversity in skill mix for inpatient general rehabilitation services.
Allied Health Professions' Office of Queensland, PO Box 2368, Fortitude Valley BC, Qld 4006, Australia. Email: ;
Catherine
C
Barrett
Allied Health Professions' Office of Queensland, PO Box 2368, Fortitude Valley BC, Qld 4006, Australia. Email: ;
Catherine
C
Stephens
Allied Health Professions' Office of Queensland, PO Box 2368, Fortitude Valley BC, Qld 4006, Australia. Email: ;
Julie
J
Hulcombe
Allied Health Professions' Office of Queensland, PO Box 2368, Fortitude Valley BC, Qld 4006, Australia. Email: ;
Brian
B
McEvoy
D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011793:Queensland; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D000078329:Workforce