Service Scope Planning
Defining exactly what a department will offer before it is set up.
Service scope planning defines what a new or existing clinical department will actually deliver - the types of consultations, procedures and care pathways it offers, the patient groups it serves, the hours and volumes it is designed for, and the sub-specialties and referral relationships it intends to support. It turns a hospital's service intentions into a defined operating mandate that layout, staffing, equipment and workflow planning can each build on, and it records the assumptions behind the scope so decisions stay traceable.
What this service covers
- Department service offering definition
- Patient groups, pathways and referral base
- Consultation, procedure and intervention types
- Capacity, hours and volume assumptions
- Sub-specialty and growth within the department
- Inter-departmental referral and support relationships
- Non-clinical support and administration scope
- Constraints and dependencies behind the scope
- Handover to layout, staffing, equipment and workflow planning
- Documented service scope
Our process
- Confirm hospital service intentions and volumes
- Define the department's service offering
- Set capacity, hours and patient groups
- Map referral and support relationships
- Record assumptions and dependencies
- Hand the scope into planning inputs
Frequently asked questions
What does service scope planning include?
The department's defined offerings, volumes, patient groups, sub-specialties and the relationships it depends on.
When is it needed?
Early, when a department is being planned or set up, so every later plan works from the same mandate.
What information is required?
Hospital service strategy, projected volumes, the care model and the department's intended role.
What are the deliverables?
A service scope document that layout, staffing, equipment and workflow planning can build on.
How is it different from service mix strategy?
Service mix strategy decides the hospital-wide portfolio; service scope planning defines the operating mandate of one department within it.