Have you generally been suggesting that they are over or understaffed? Also, did you have this problem before the pandemic?

Not so much overstaffed but unbalanced or more efficient process changes. I tend to not recommend changing total manning in any way if I can avoid it.

Yes, the problem was apparent before the pandemic as well, but to be fair there has been more involvement recently because of the pandemic.

You sound just like some of the experts I have worked with. Good luck.

To clarify, I am not a consultant, and I am able (and required) to work closely with the areas I study throughout implementation and follow-up.

@solarmike to answer your question less defensively. That is actually the route I've taken in the past but was told if I do any more front line work then I will be terminated.

" This is very frustrating for my job and looks poorly on me" - I get the frustrating part. Mind enhancing on why you feel this looks poorly on you? (I'd think in any case that would look poorly on them)

Have you tried speaking with administrators about this? They may be able to help.

@GregoryCurrie I have discussed this with the medical administration, but they always default to the doctor's stance which is, "I didn't ask for your help. I know what I need". I have not escalated it further than my boss.

I'm missing something. Who is paying you here?

Or rather, who is paying your consultancy firm?

@GregoryCurrie I am not a consultant. I am an IE for a production company that also has an on-site medical facility.

@GregoryCurrie they often host wellness or vaccination events in which I am asked to study. Most of the time there are obvious bottlenecks which I find but medical never even acknowledges my findings.

@AcumenSimulator 'they often host wellness or vaccination events in which I am asked to study' But who asks you to study those events? It appears that it's neither the doctors nor the doctors' management team.

@DanielHatton The doctor's management team is instructed to include me in the planning. Then I report findings to medical and nothing gets done because medical is able to say I was involved without actually considering my findings.

@AcumenSimulator You're using that passive voice again: 'is instructed'. Who does the instructing? Does that person have any legitimate authority, in the organisation's constitutional structure, to tell the doctors and their management team what to do? Does that person have a history of good (or bad) relations with the doctors and their management team?

@DanielHatten Usually, upper management over production asks HR that an IE (me) be included in the medical planning of an event. HR then instructs medical to include IE. Alternatively, HR will want IE help/approval on a medical process and will directly ask IE to help medical.

There are other people on here who are much more familiar with typical constitutional structures/schemes of delegation in for-profit businesses than I am: folks, does the sequence of events that OP describes immediately above smell right? (BTW, I'm guessing that "IE" in this context stands for "industrial engineer".)

Let us continue this discussion in chat.