Deployment

The aim of this study is to analyse the distribution of physicians, GPs and specialists between the years 1965-2000 and the efficiency of the strict 15 year government intervention (1981-1995). [from abstract]

This report combines findings from a desk review,a mapping of [Close-to-Community] CTC providers and data collected during qualitative explorations carried out in two selected districts of Maputo Province as part of the context analysis. [from introduction]

As part of ongoing efforts to restructure the health sector and improve health care quality, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in Namibia sought to update staffing norms for health facilities. To establish an evidence base for the new norms, the MoHSS supported the first-ever national application of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method, a human resource management tool developed by the World Health Organization. [from abstract]

The primary question guiding the review was: What is known about policies to support training and deployment of nurses, midwives and doctors for maternal-child health care in rural Africa? [from summary]

The objective of this study was to improve knowledge on the HRH status in Tanzania by analyzing what happens to the number of medical doctors (MD) and doctor of dental surgery (DDS) degree graduates during the transition period from graduation, internship to appointment. [from abstract]

The aim of this study was to measure the capacity of referral hospitals’ maternity services to cope with the demand for health services after the implementation of this policy. [from abstract]

Reflecting on service delivery in northern, rural or remote Canada, Dr. Roger Strasser (Dean of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine) and Erin Leith (Director, Collaboration for Innovation and Improvement, Canadian Foundation of Healthcare Improvement) discuss the significant momentum generated by the Canadian Recruit and Retain Conference and the influence and impact this will have on healthcare in these often under-served regions. [from introduction]

The paper reports on country experiences using an analytical framework that examines effective coverage in relation to the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality (AAAQ) of HRH. [from abstract]

This series draws from studies in a range of countries and provides new insights into what can be done to improve access to health through more effective human resources policies, planning and management. The primary focus is on health workforce distribution and retention. [from abstract]

This study examines the effects of implementing national health insurance on the problem of geographic maldistribution of health providers in Taiwan. [from abstract]

The Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal has identified major challenges in human resources for health, specifically in the shortage, distribution and skill mix of health workers in the country. This report aims to provide insight into specific challenges and policy recommendations for the ministry and concerned stakeholders. [from summary]

This study was carried out to assess the attitudes of Ethiopian medical students towards their training and future practice of medicine, and to identify factors associated with the intent to practice in rural or urban settings, or to migrate abroad. [from abstract]

Using the case of Brazil, the authors measure changes in inequalities in the distribution of the health workforce and account for the sources of inequalities at sub-national level to identify whether policies have been effective in decreasing inequalities and increasing the density of health workers in the poorest areas between 1991 and 2005. [from abstract]

The present research sets out to investigate the current distribution of national and international physicians in Portugal, with the objective to understand its determinants and provide an evidence base for policymakers to identify policies to influence it. [from abstract]

This publication presents measures composed by the Dutch Alliance for Human Resources for Health, a group concerned about the global maldistribution of human resources for health, to be taken by Dutch actors to improve the distribution of health staff across countries. [from preface]

This article considers the shortage and maldistribution of health personnel in countries in southeast Asia in the context of international trade in health services. It analyzes the situation and identifies factors contributing to shortages and maldistribution in many countries in the region. The effect of trade in health services on the health workforce is discussed. [from introduction]

This study proposes methods for measuring inequalities in the distribution of health workers in a country by adapting techniques from the economics literature on income inequality to the measurement of health workforce distribution across geographical units. [from summary]

This article discusses the issue of maldistribution, which is arguably the most critical workforce challenge, not only for achieving universal coverage but also for addressing inextricably linked workforce problems such as shortages and skill imbalances. In many countries, overall shortages are exacerbated, indeed even caused, by severe maldistribution. [adapted from author]

This background paper to the World Health Report 2006 discusses the various options to allow comparative analysis of inequalities in the distribution of health workers across and within countries, using a single summary measure of this distribution. The paper first presents the scale problem of various inequality indices, then tests how sensitive a simple ratio measure of the distribution of health workers is to changes in scale.

The objective of this study was to analyse in what way HRH recruitment, deployment and retention at the district level are influenced by external funding; and to what extent this is in line with national and district policies and strategies. [from abstract]

The maldistribution of physicians between urban and rural areas has long been an important political issue in Japan. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term transition in the geographic distribution of physicians, and to reveal which rural physician characteristics predict their retention in rural areas. [adapted from abstract]

This article presents the results of a study analyzing national trends in Japan regarding the distribution and career transitions of physicians among types of facilities and specialties over a 30-year period. [adapted from abstract]

This issue of Voices discusses the impact of the Emergency Hiring Plan developed in combination with the Capacity Project and the Kenyan Ministry of Health to increase the number of qualified professionals working in Kenya’s public health facilities. [adapted from author]

This study highlights the experiences and challenges associated with decentralisation and the partial re-centralisation in relation to the recruitment and distribution of health workers. [from abstract]

This report utilizes statistical information derived from a central data source for resource planning regarding the supply, distribution and migration of physicians in Canada. [from introduction]

Increased immunization coverage is an important step towards fulfilling the Millennium Development Goal of reducing childhood mortality. Recent cross-sectional and cross-national research has indicated that physician, nurse and midwife densities may positively influence immunization coverage. However, little is known about relationships between densities of HRH and vaccination coverage within developing countries and over time. This study examines HRH densities and coverage of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in Turkey from 2000 to 2006. [from abstract]

A community health planning and service strategy was started in Ashanti region in 2001 with the intention of improving geographic access to comprehensive health care. The region used community-based surveillance as an entry point. The implementation process and health outcomes were tracked and evaluated after a year. [from summary]

The overall human resource shortages and the distributional inequalities in the health workforce in many developing countries are well acknowledged. However, little has been done to measure the degree of inequality systematically. This paper describes and measures health worker distributional inequalities in Tanzania on a per capita basis; and it suggests and applies additional health care needs indicators in the measurement of distributional inequalities. [adapted from abstract]

This paper analyzes China’s current health workforce in terms of quantity, quality, and distribution. Unlike most countries, China has more doctors than nurses. Doctor density in urban areas was more than twice that in rural areas, with nurse density showing more than a three-fold difference. Over the past decade there has been a massive expansion of medical education, with an excess in the production of health workers over absorption into the health workforce.

Despite a pool of unemployed health staff available in Kenya, staffing levels at most facilities were only 50%, and maldistribution of staff left many people without access to antiretroviral therapy. Because in the current system it takes one to two years to fill vacant positions, even when funding is available, an emergency approach was needed to fast-track the hiring and deployment process. A stakeholder group was formed to bring together leaders from several sectors to design and implement a fast-track hiring and deployment model that would mobilize 830 additional health workers.