[Excerpt from publisher]With the spotlight recently on workforce planning within the NHS, the Workforce Review Team commissioned an extensive literature review of workforce planning for healthcare. The Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, undertook, from September to November 2007, to report on: 1. theory and overview - is there any consensus in the academic literature about what constitutes successful workforce planning? 2. examples and case studies of workforce planning best practice - what do stakeholders define as 'best in class' and by what criteria and evidence do they reach this judgement? 3. UK health sector workforce planning - are there robust and authoritative studies and assessments of their effectiveness?