Planning & Managing Resources Assignment Sample
Introduction
Project management is the concept of applying processes, skills, and methods along with knowledge and experience for achieving certain objectives regarding a project and in order to effectively plan a project a certain number of resources is required as well. The lack of proper resources and planning it carefully in alignment with the time and budget of a project is one of the most significant approaches for having efficient outcomes from a given project. Therefore, in this report, the concept of project planning in relation to expanding the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a given hospital will be discussed critically to acquire a brief knowledge about the steps required to be taken for attaining the goal. In terms of strategy, the concept of funding and allocation of resources in the most significant manner will also be discussed to procure significant knowledge about the same.
Question 1
a) Discuss the way the concept of resource planning
Resource planning
In the field of economics, resources are depicted as a service or other component that are used in order to produce goods and services for meeting human needs and requirements. In order to effectively plan resource management for the given project, it is imperative to have a proper strategy in action. There are certain key terms, such as cross-functional, functional, resource assignment matrix, resource histogram and more that will allow the manager of the ICU unit to effectively plan the resources for expanding the ICU and also allocate more resources if need be. a pestle and swot analysis will also have to be conducted before the activities of the project starts to take place and for instance the external environment of the UK needs to be analysed to make sure that the economic and political stability of the country is stable and along with that, a swot analysis, budgeting, costing and best service user outcome will also have to be taken into account.
Pestle analysis
Political- the political environment of the UK is quite stable currently and thus, getting the official approval from the government to increase the space of the ICU will not be much of a challenge. However, owing to the political turmoil before the general elections in December, 2019 across the UK, the NHS, similar to many other organizations has used a substantial number of financial resources for certain reasons, which could have been spent in areas that are highly deprived of significant resources (Milner et al., 2021).
Economical- The UK is a highly economically stable country meaning that the government has allocated a significant number of financial resources for hospitals around the country through National Health Services (NHS) England.
Social- The social ambiance of the nation is also positive, indicating that many individuals also may come ahead for helping with financial aid for such social causes.
Technological- Technologically advanced country
Environmental- Certain measures have been taken to reduce the negative impact that is left on the environment within the country.
Legal- Significant legal rules and obligations exist to protect the rights of humans
Swot Analysis
Strength- will be helpful for effectively planning the project and the project will further be beneficial for taking care of more patients amidst the pandemic.
Weakness- If resources are not planned properly then, chances of the project becoming a failure increase.
Opportunities- if planned properly the project will help to expand the ICU in no time
Threats- allocating or procuring resources may be difficult sometimes and other hospitals also may try to do the same thing and ask for financial resources from government funding as well. In the course of a project, financial, human and physical resources have had significant impact on the sustainability of a project in accordance with research (Chepng’eno and Kimutai, 2021). This may slow down the process of acquiring the resources needed for the ICU expansion at Middlesex Hospital NHS trust. The NHS trust is an official entity which was set up by the secretary of state under the National Health Service Act of 2006 within section 25 for the purpose of providing services to the public health (Datadictionary.nhs.uk. 2022).
Budgeting and costing- the budgeting and costing will have to be calculated before starting with the project work and several aspects, such as more ICU staff, beds and the cost of technology will have to be taken into account.
Best service user outcome- proper resource planning will be helpful for the hospital to get positive feedback from patients.
Effective planning
The goal of this project is to expand the ICU of Middlesex Hospital NHS trust in order to incorporate more patients in wake of the pandemic caused by Covid-19. The pandemic caused by Covid-19 does not only address the importance of healthcare professionals, it also depicts that the stability of the healthcare system is necessary (Refer to Appendix 1). Research has stated that the transmission of the Covid-19 virus within the healthcare settings has a significant impact on the health of patients along with healthcare workers (Taylor et al., 2020). In order to achieve that goal, the manager of the ICU needs to effectively plan the project and for that the allocation of a substantial amount of resources from the government or autonomous investors is required, since expanding the ICU will cost a certain amount of money.
The attainment of this goal is only possible by making sure that a strategic step-by-step project is planned and before moving forward with the assignment, resources, such as financial along with human need to be gathered. A proper budgeting skill by taking in all aspects of the project into account is of utmost necessary and for those certain aspects need to be taken into account. For instance, if the ICU is expanded the more beds and staff will be required and if each bed costs 100 pound, then purchasing 10 beds will equal 1000 pound. Similarly, the remuneration of each staff along with the technology required in an ICU and electricity will need to be added for the expansion. The previous record of the hospital will also need to be addressed to comprehend the number of patients usually admitted to the ICU monthly and based on that number of beds and other things will have to be purchased.
b) Analyzing three different sources of funding for expansion of the ICU
In order to significantly plan a project and for making it successful a substantial number of resources is required and for this particular project a certain amount of money needs to be kept aside for the project. For example, ⅓ of the income of the hospital is required to be allocated for the expansion project, along with that the government, namely the NHS trust and also there are several philanthropists who also often make a noteworthy contribution to projects such as these. From the overall income of the hospital the amount of tax that the organization needs to be deducted and after that a significant part of the income needs to go towards the project planning. It needs to be mentioned that the modern discourse regarding organizational project management consists of portfolio, programmer along with project management along with emergent components, similar to projectivization and organizational design (Müller et al., 2019).
These given sources apart from the hospital’s own income will be extremely helpful in planning resources for the given project as the money gathered from the other two resources will presumably be enough for the successful attainment of the goal. For example, instead of donating money many charities or individuals often donate a number of beds and the public health department of the UK may allocate the required equipment needed in the ICU. The remuneration of the extra employees may be covered with the hospital’s own income.
Question 2
The concept of project management regarding the way it may contribute to the effective management of resources
Project management
Effective resource planning for a given project offers an explicit idea of the things that are being done by individuals and the estimated amount of time required for finishing it. In accordance with research, the concept of scheduling within any project is an indicative tool for determining the specific activities required for completing a project within a specific time frame (Atin and Lubis, 2019). There are certain types of resources that are required in a project, such as labour, materials, finance and more and for this particular project all these resources are necessary for successfully expanding the ICU of the hospital.
Advantages and disadvantages of freeing up resources
In order to free up the resources for this particular project the pros and cons of resource planning needs to be looked at with significant importance and for example human resources, such as labour and staff for the expansion project may not be surpassed as that will increase the budget that was allocated for the project. According to research, the term human resources is used to address both the individual employed under a specific organization and the specific department in charge of managing the resources associated with employees (Dociu, 2018). One of the cons that may occur is regarding the financial aspect, meaning if the amount coming in from outside sources are not enough to successfully finish the project and if the political and economic environmental climate of the country suddenly goes downhill then that may also disrupt the overall success of the project. In terms of cons, it may be predicted that the income of the hospital will be sufficient to ensure proper remuneration is paid to the employees working in the new ICU and the labourers who will build the place along with the prices of all materials may be covered.
Implication of short, medium and long-term requirements
Given the magnitude of the project it may be assumed that this particular project will be of medium term as the number of patients amidst the Covid-19 crisis is increasing day by day and therefore, it is required that the hospital needs to finish the expansion of the ICU at the earliest for providing the similar facility to the patients. The short-term requirement of the project will be to first make a proper planning which will include the budget, timing, materials, tools and equipment needed for the expansion of the ICU. The midterm needs for this project planning will be to allocate the resources from all the sources, such as the public health sector of the UK, volunteer donors and more.
The practitioners of public health in the local government of England may act as leaders to encourage stakeholders in relation to non-health to consider the citizen’s health while developing and building new communities (Le et al., 2020). Therefore, based on the significant aspects of the complete project planning, it is required that the project manager conducts a proper and strategic planning to ensure that no unprecedented and unfortunate situation occurs during the course of the project activities. In order to do that, the most important thing will be to first collect all the resources, including financial and human resources as without the availability of these two components the project may run into several difficulties.
Policies for the free up resources
The policy management of the hospitals in order to manage the economic resources of the hospitals and to understand about the expansion of the ICU in the desired period of time helps in managing the patients in the hospitals. Moreover, the hospital first has to take up the policy of planning and recruiting the desired people who are able to understand the protocols and management of the hospitals during Covid-19 with the help of effective training procedures by the hospital management. The variety of organisations and governmental agencies helps in providing meaningful assistance towards development of the trust building among the consumers with the organisation (Stall et al., 2020). The resource management policy helps in understanding about the management of the economic resources of the hospital in buying the masks, sanitizers and also the sanitisation of the hospitals from time to time. The capital investment policy helps in understanding about the expenditure of the ICU development in the hospitals and the way the expansion of hospitals according to the demand and operating the framework according to it.
Current climate to free up resources
The policy implementation and the effective use of the policy management may help in the management of the organisation which may help the hospitals in making the advancement in the economic resources of the hospitals in expansion of the ICU. Furthermore, the tax policy of any organisation helps in the effective competition and improving the tax policies by making sure about the investment which helps in the help of trading and even making the investment policy of the organisation quite well (Refer to appendix 2). The climate management of the hospital has to be in a way which may help the hospital to open up in the Covid-19 situation by maintaining the safety protocols both for the staff and also for the patients. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic caused the hospital to make specific changes which have made the protocols and the suspension about the management of the resources in order to develop the services of the hospitals (Browning et al., 2021).
Relationship between project management and management of resources
Impact of effective resource management in performance of team
The resource management in the ICU expansion is evident for the growing concern of Covid-19 patients throughout the globe where employee effectiveness is measured by the availability of equipment and necessary elements to treat patients to sustain a healthy and long life. The availability of resources such as the ventilator, respiratory system, oxygen cylinders, essential drugs, mask, protective gear, doctor and trained staff will accommodate the ICU expansion and open the scope to treat more and more people every day. The opportunity to take care of patients will generally accumulate the knowledge and habit of practice in the interns to acknowledge the overall process for effective and positive treatment and health care prominently. The resources will be freed up through positive dialogue and communication with the stakeholders to release the necessary funds for modernization and expansion of existing ICU for various needs by resource management. Resource allocation by management will open the scope for project management to use the 100% potential of the staff to increase productivity and brand reputation through great practice of medical care and treatment.
On the contrary, the lack of staff or training may ruin the overall business capacity and management need to train the staff to handle the electronic health record, centralised command centres to monitor the ICU activity closely and allocate patients upon the forecasted bed capacity or availability of specialised doctors by project management in Public Health Emergency (PHE). The team performance will outgrow through recourse allocation which enabled the close and wide communication of previous and present record along with supervision practice of the staff with centralised command to achieve proficiency in the ICU care and treatment (Armenia et al.,2018).
Management effectiveness in resource allocation
The ICU expansion is dependent on the manager’s decision making and policy to regulate the health care effectiveness through allocation of adequate recourse for the growing concerns of PHE and impact on the medical wellbeing of the population. The manager will rely upon the certain constraints for free up resources and allocated according to the need and potential to deliver the healthcare to the patients. It also remains accountable on the line of expenditure and returns with better healthcare support to the population with specific control and optimization of financial resources for the increased concern of public health care. Degree of transparency in the resource allocation is significant for proper use of resources according to different needs of training and development of staff, doctors, smart beds, ventilator, respiratory system, protective gears and other necessary elements (Gross et al., 2019).
It will give confidence to the manager in managing the financial risks by minimising corruption as from budgetary allocation and continue communication with public sector offerings through financial experts and political alliances. On a brief note, maintenance of resources with a proper functioning position will help to control the financial risk more appropriately. It allows the manager to effectively engage the resources for the wellbeing of the public and coordinate the medical practitioners to effectively deliver the health care services. Resource availability, proper forecasting, modernization in inventory management, inter connectivity of different processes, government’s approach and patience pressure are affecting the decision-making process for the project manager.
Conclusion
Finally, it may be concluded that project planning is the most effective way to ensure that a given project, irrespective of its size and duration, is not able to be a success and it needs to be mentioned that there are several steps included in a proper planning of a project. In order to make sure that the project work goes smoothly and no significant obstacles come in the way of it, a good project manager will always attempt to do proper calculation of the entire budget and try to procure all the necessary resources beforehand to ensure that the project is not met with any challenges. In order to expand the ICU of Middlesex hospital there are several sources from where the money and other resources may come from and the previous performance of the hospital also needs to be considered to estimate the amount the hospital can spend for the expansion.
Recommendations
The recommendations of the report as follows:
- The implementation of the policies regarding the Covid-19 situation should be made in order to understand about the resources and also the management of the resources quite well
- The capital investment policy helps in the policy management of the hospital about the financial resources which should help in the expansion of the ICU centres of the hospital in a better way
- The resource management policy of the hospital should help the hospital in managing the resources of the hospitals whose implementation may help the hospitals to manage about the safety protocols of the hospitals
- The management of the hospitals should be made in such as way the hospitals helps in understanding about the resources which too help in the performance of the team of the hospitals
References
Armenia, S., Thangamathesvaran, L., Caine, A.D., King, N., Kunac, A. and Merchant, A.M., 2018. The role of high-fidelity team-based simulation in acute care settings: a systematic review. The Surgery Journal, 4(03), pp.e136-e151.
Atin, S. and Lubis, R., 2019, November. Implementation of Critical Path Method in Project Planning and Scheduling. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 662, No. 2, p. 022031). IOP Publishing.
Browning, L., Colling, R., Rakha, E., Rajpoot, N., Rittscher, J., James, J.A., Salto-Tellez, M., Snead, D.R. and Verrill, C., 2021. Digital pathology and artificial intelligence will be key to supporting clinical and academic cellular pathology through COVID-19 and future crises: the PathLAKE consortium perspective. Journal of clinical pathology, 74(7), pp.443-447.
Datadictionary.nhs.uk. 2022. NHS Data Model and Dictionary. [online] Available at: <https://datadictionary.nhs.uk/index.html> [Accessed 10 February 2022].
Dociu, M.M., 2018. The importance of human resources in project management. Knowledge Horizons. Economics, 10(3), pp.8-14.
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Stall, N.M., Farquharson, C., Fan‐Lun, C., Wiesenfeld, L., Loftus, C.A., Kain, D., Johnstone, J., McCreight, L., Goldman, R.D. and Mahtani, R., 2020. A hospital partnership with a nursing home experiencing a COVID‐19 outbreak: description of a multiphase emergency response in Toronto, Canada. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 68(7), pp.1376-1381.
Taylor, J., Rangaiah, J., Narasimhan, S., Clark, J., Alexander, Z., Manuel, R. and Balasegaram, S., 2020. Nosocomial COVID-19: experience from a large acute NHS Trust in South-West London. Journal of Hospital Infection, 106(3), pp.621-625.
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