Module 2 of 2 · 40 minutes
Building a budget, and defending it
By the end of this module you will be able to
- Build a staffing establishment from dependency rather than habit
- Explain the difference between a cost and a cost driver
- Prepare for a budget conversation you are likely to lose
- Present a capital request that gets approved
Work through it
1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.
Amara Where does our staffing establishment come from?
Nadia In most services, from last year. And that is not a rationale, it is an inheritance, and it collapses the moment anybody asks you to justify it.
Amara How should I build it?
Nadia From dependency. The people you actually support, the care each one needs, the tasks that have to happen at fixed times, and the hours that produces.
Amara That sounds like the easy part.
Nadia It is, and then you add the things everybody forgets. Handover. Breaks. Training time. Supervision. Annual leave cover. Predictable sickness.
Amara We do not build leave cover in.
Nadia Then you are not short staffed by accident, you are short staffed by design. Every single week that somebody is on leave, you are below establishment, and the gap gets filled with agency. And then somebody asks why the agency line is so high.
Amara So the agency spend is caused by the rota.
Nadia Which brings us to the most useful distinction in this whole module. A cost is what appears on the report. A cost driver is the thing that causes it, and it is almost always somewhere else.
Amara Give me another one.
Nadia Catering overspend. The cost is food. The driver is often waste, from meals nobody wanted, which is a menu and choice problem rather than a food price problem. Buying cheaper food increases waste and makes it worse.
Amara And falls?
Nadia Falls cost you in incidents and in staff time, and the drivers are lighting, footwear, continence support and medication review. Not one of those sits in anything labelled falls.
Amara So when I am told to reduce a cost?
Nadia Name the driver. It turns the conversation from cutting to fixing, and it is the thing that distinguishes a manager from somebody administering a spreadsheet.
Amara What if I am given a number I think is unsafe?
Nadia Say so clearly, in writing, once. And state the consequence in specifics, not in feelings.
Amara What does specific look like?
Nadia At this establishment we cannot deliver two person transfers within the times set out in the care plans, and that is what will happen. Not: the team will be under pressure.
Amara And if the decision stands?
Nadia Escalate it as a risk and record it. You have your own regulatory accountability as a registered manager, and a documented concern is what separates a manager who raised it from one who did not. That distinction matters enormously afterwards.
Amara Last thing. I want three ceiling hoists and I will be told no.
Nadia Because you are presenting a wish. Present a return instead.
Amara How?
Nadia Three ceiling track hoists cost this much. They remove this many single handed transfer risks, save this many minutes per transfer across this many transfers a day, and they reduce a manual handling injury exposure that costs more than the hoists the first time it materialises.
Amara Same request.
Nadia Same request, arithmetic attached, and a completely different answer. The person deciding is not unsympathetic, they are just looking at a spreadsheet and you had not given them anything to put in it.
The written material
Build the establishment from need, not from last year
Most staffing establishments exist because that is what it was last year. That is not a rationale and it collapses the moment somebody asks for a cut.
Build it from dependency. Take the people you actually support, the care each one needs, the tasks that must happen at fixed times, and the hours that produces. Then add the things that are always forgotten: handover, breaks, training time, supervision, annual leave cover and predictable sickness.
A rota built without leave and sickness cover is not short staffed by accident, it is short staffed by design, and it will run on agency permanently while everybody wonders why the agency line is so high.
Once you have that number, you can defend it. Not because you feel it is right, but because you can show what it is made of and what removing an hour would actually stop happening.
Costs and cost drivers
A cost is what appears on the report. A cost driver is the thing that causes it, and it is almost always somewhere else.
The agency line is a cost. The driver is a vacancy, or a rota that never included leave cover, or a retention problem. Attacking the agency line without touching the driver simply produces unfilled shifts.
The catering overspend is a cost. The driver might be waste from meals nobody wanted, which is a menu and a choice problem rather than a food price problem.
The falls line, in incidents and in staff time, has drivers in lighting, footwear, continence support and medication review. None of those sit in the falls budget.
When you are asked to reduce a cost, name the driver. It changes the conversation from cutting to fixing, and it is what distinguishes a manager from somebody administering a spreadsheet.
The conversation, and capital requests
You will sometimes be asked to accept a number you believe is unsafe. Say so clearly, in writing, once, with the consequence stated in specifics: at this establishment we cannot deliver two person transfers within the times in the care plans, and that is what will happen.
Then, if the decision stands, escalate it as a risk rather than resigning yourself to it. A registered manager has their own regulatory accountability, and a documented concern is what separates a manager who raised it from one who did not.
For capital, so equipment and refurbishment, present it as a return rather than a wish. Three ceiling track hoists cost X, and they remove Y single handed transfer risks, save Z minutes per transfer across N transfers a day, and reduce the manual handling injury exposure that costs more than the hoists when it materialises. Same request, arithmetic attached.
Knowledge check
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