scholarly journals Health workforce design for the 21st century

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J Duckett
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Demographic Transition ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Australian Population ◽  
Educational Preparation ◽  
Australian Health ◽  
Common Foundation

The Australian health workforce has changed dramatically over the last 4 years, growing in size and changing composition. However, more changes will be needed in the future to respond to the epidemiological and demographic transition of the Australian population. A critical issue will be whether the supply of health professionals will keep pace with demand. There are current recorded shortages of most health professionals, but this paper argues that future workforce planning should not be based on providing more of the same. Rather, the roles of health professionals will need to change and workforce planning needs to place a stronger emphasis on issues of workforce substitution, that is, a different mix of responsibilities. This will also require changes in educational preparation, in particular an increased emphasis on interprofessional work and common foundation learning.

scholarly journals Advancing the Population Needs-Based Health Workforce Planning Methodology: A Simulation Tool for Country Application

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2113
Author(s):  
James Asamani ◽  
Christmal Christmals ◽  
Gerda Reitsma
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Simulation Tool ◽  
Flow Process ◽  
Health Workforce Planning

Although the conceptual underpinnings of needs-based health workforce planning have developed over the last two decades, lingering gaps in empirical models and lack of open access tools have partly constrained its uptake in health workforce planning processes in countries. This paper presents an advanced empirical framework for the need-based approach to health workforce planning with an open-access simulation tool in Microsoft® Excel to facilitate real-life health workforce planning in countries. Two fundamental mathematical models are used to quantify the supply of, and need for, health professionals, respectively. The supply-side model is based on a stock-and-flow process, and the need-side model extents a previously published analytical frameworks using the population health needs-based approach. We integrate the supply and need analyses by comparing them to establish the gaps in both absolute and relative terms, and then explore their cost implications for health workforce policy and strategy. To illustrate its use, the model was used to simulate a real-life example using midwives and obstetricians/gynaecologists in the context of maternal and new-born care in Ghana. Sensitivity analysis showed that if a constant level of health was assumed (as in previous works), the need for health professionals could have been underestimated in the long-term. Towards universal health coverage, the findings reveal a need to adopt the need-based approach for HWF planning and to adjust HWF supply in line with population health needs.

scholarly journals Health Service Activity Standards and Standard Workloads for Primary Healthcare in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Health Professionals

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 332
Author(s):  
James Avoka Asamani ◽  
Christmal Dela Christmals ◽  
Gerda Marie Reitsma
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
Service Activity

The attainment of health system goals is largely hinged on the health workforce availability and performance; hence, health workforce planning is central to the health policy agenda. This study sought to estimate health service activity standards and standard workloads at the primary health care level in Ghana and explore any differences across health facility types. A nationally representative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 503 health professionals across eight health professions who provided estimates of health service activity standards in Ghana’s Primary Health Care (PHC) settings. Outpatient consultation time was 16 min, translating into an annual standard workload of 6030 consultations per year for General Practitioners. Routine nursing care activities take an average of 40 min (95% CI: 38–42 min) for low acuity patients; and 135 min (95% CI: 127–144 min) for high dependency patients per inpatient day. Availability of tools/equipment correlated with reduced time on clinical procedure. Physician Assistants in health centres spend more time with patients than in district hospitals. Midwives spend 78 min more during vaginal delivery in health centres/polyclinics than in district/primary hospital settings. We identified 18.9% (12 out of 67) of health service activities performed across eight health professional groups to differ between health centres/polyclinics and district/primary hospitals settings. The workload in the health facilities was rated 78.2%, but as the workload increased, and without a commensurate increase in staffing, health professionals reduced the time spent on individual patient care, which could have consequences for the quality of care and patient safety. Availability of tools and equipment at PHC was rated 56.6%, which suggests the need to retool these health facilities. The estimated standard workloads lay a foundation for evidence-based planning for the optimal number of health professionals needed in Ghana’s PHC system and the consequent adjustments necessary in both health professions education and the budgetary allocation for their employment. Finally, given similarity in results with Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) methodology used in Ghana, this study demonstrates that cross-sectional surveys can estimate health service activity standards that is suitable for health workforce planning just as the consensus-based estimates advocated in WISN.

scholarly journals The Australian health workforce:facts and futures

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Duckett
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
Health Costs ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Australian Health ◽  
Care Services

The quality of care received by a patient or consumer critically depends on the knowledge, skills and attitudes of thehealth workforce; the structure and functioning of the health workforce is critical to the structure and functioning ofthe health system overall. To a very large extent, diagnosis and treatment decisions call on the training and experienceof the health professional. The quality of the interaction between a patient or consumer depends on the interpersonaland technical skills of health professionals. In a sense, health workers are important to defining the very nature ofhealth care services. The importance of the health workforce is further highlighted by the fact that, as is typical of mostservice industries, labour accounts for a large proportion of health costs (around 80%).This paper provides an overview of the size and composition of the health workforce in Australia. It then reviewsthree segments of the workforce in more detail (medical, nursing and other health professionals) and reviewscontemporary policy issues affecting those groups.

scholarly journals Australian Health Review call for papers

2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Sandra Leggat
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Professional ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Health Professional Education ◽  
Australian Health ◽  
Health Review

The Editor of Australian Health Review invites contributions for an upcoming issue on health professional education. Submission deadline: 6 February 2007 It is expected that tertiary education and research for health professionals will be the focus of substantial change over the next couple of years. The health professional workforce has been the subject of recent studies in Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand Health Workforce Advisory Committee has focused on ensuring an effective strategic framework and outlined seven principles comprising equity and appropriateness, strategic and sustainable supply, healthy workplaces, collaborative practice, effective education, stakeholder involvement and information and monitoring.1 In Australia, the Productivity Commission made strong recommendations directed at improving health professional education to enhance coordination, reduce practice barriers and address shortages of health professionals. 2 To help inform policy and practice, Australian Health Review is looking to publish feature articles, research papers, case studies and commentaries related to health professional education. Potential topic areas include: � Addressing health workforce challenges � Multidisciplinary professional practice and interdisciplinary education � Management education and clinician managers � Evidence-based education � Sector-based approaches to education and training � Partnerships and social change � Impact of national education and research policy on health professional education. Submissions related to international programs with lessons for Australia and New Zealand will also be welcomed. Submissions can be short commentaries of 1000 to 2000 words, or more comprehensive reviews of 2000 to 4000 words. Please consult the AHR Guidelines for Authors for information on formatting and submission.

scholarly journals Size, composition and distribution of health workforce in India: why, and where to invest?

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anup Karan ◽  
Himanshu Negandhi ◽  
Suhaib Hussain ◽  
Tomas Zapata ◽  
Dilip Mairembam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Medical Practitioner ◽  
Skewed Distribution ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Skill Mix

Abstract Background Investment in human resources for health not only strengthens the health system, but also generates employment and contributes to economic growth. India can gain from enhanced investment in health workforce in multiple ways. This study in addition to presenting updated estimates on size and composition of health workforce, identifies areas of investment in health workforce in India. Methods We analyzed two sources of data: (i) National Health Workforce Account (NHWA) 2018 and (ii) Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017–2018 of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Using the two sources, we collated comparable estimates of different categories of health workers in India, density of health workforce and skill-mix at the all India and state levels. Results The study estimated (from NHWA 2018) a total stock of 5.76 million health workers which included allopathic doctors (1.16 million), nurses/midwives (2.34 million), pharmacist (1.20 million), dentists (0.27 million), and traditional medical practitioner (AYUSH 0.79 million). However, the active health workforce size estimated (NSSO 2017–2018) is much lower (3.12 million) with allopathic doctors and nurses/midwives estimated as 0.80 million and 1.40 million, respectively. Stock density of doctor and nurses/midwives are 8.8 and 17.7, respectively, per 10,000 persons as per NHWA. However, active health workers’ density (estimated from NSSO) of doctor and nurses/midwives are estimated to be 6.1 and 10.6, respectively. The numbers further drop to 5.0 and 6.0, respectively, after accounting for the adequate qualifications. All these estimates are well below the WHO threshold of 44.5 doctor, nurses and midwives per 10,000 population. The results reflected highly skewed distribution of health workforce across states, rural–urban and public–private sectors. A substantial proportion of active health worker were found not adequately qualified on the one hand and on the other more than 20% of qualified health professionals are not active in labor markets. Conclusion India needs to invest in HRH for increasing the number of active health workers and also improve the skill-mix which requires investment in professional colleges and technical education. India also needs encouraging qualified health professionals to join the labor markets and additional trainings and skill building for already working but inadequately qualified health workers.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Nutrition and functional outcomes for critical care survivors in a 400- bedded district general hospital in North London

2021 ◽  
pp. 175114372110254
Author(s):  
Rachel Catlow ◽  
Charlotte Cheeseman ◽  
Helen Newman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
General Hospital ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
Critical Care Unit ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
District General Hospital ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Rehabilitation Needs

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has resulted in huge numbers of critically ill patients. This study describes the inpatient recovery and rehabilitation needs of patients admitted with COVID-19 to the critical care unit of a 400 bedded general hospital in London, United Kingdom. The rehabilitation needs of our sample were considerable. It is recommended that the increase demand on allied health professionals capacity demonstrated is considered in future COVID-19-related workforce-planning.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Education for Public Health: A Practical Foundation for Solidarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Perkiö ◽  
R Harrison ◽  
M Grivna ◽  
D Tao ◽  
C Evashwich
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Public Health Education ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Rigorous Evaluation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Professionals

Abstract Education is a key to creating solidary among the professionals who advance public health’s interdisciplinary mission. Our assumption is that if all those who work in public health shared core knowledge and the skills for interdisciplinary interaction, collaboration across disciplines, venues, and countries would be facilitated. Evaluation of education is an essential element of pedagogy to ensure quality and consistency across boundaries, as articulated by the UNESCO education standards. Our study examined the evaluation studies done by programs that educate public health professionals. We searched the peer reviewed literature published in English between 2000-2017 pertaining to the education of the public health workforce at a degree-granting level. The 2442 articles found covered ten health professions disciplines and had lead authors representing all continents. Only 86 articles focused on evaluation. The majority of the papers examined either a single course, a discipline-specific curriculum or a teaching method. No consistent methodologies could be discerned. Methods ranged from sophisticated regression analyses and trends tracked over time to descriptions of focus groups and interviews of small samples. We found that evaluations were primarily discipline-specific, lacked rigorous methodology in many instances, and that relatively few examined competencies or career expectations. The public health workforce enjoys a diversity of disciplines but must be able to come together to share diverse knowledge and skills. Evaluation is critical to achieving a workforce that is well trained in the competencies pertinent to collaboration. This study informs the pedagogical challenges that must be confronted going forward, starting with a commitment to shared core competencies and to consistent and rigorous evaluation of the education related to training public health professionals. Key messages Rigorous evaluation is not sufficiently used to enhance the quality of public health education. More frequent use of rigorous evaluation in public health education would enhance the quality of public health workforce, and enable cross-disciplinary and international collaboration for solidarity.

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