Planning

In this issue of the CapacityPlus Voices, Laurence Codjia of the Global Health Workforce Alliance shares her views on the role of stakeholder leadership groups in making progress on health workforce plans. [from publisher]

These data tables provide detailed information on the health workforce in Australia including data on workers from: health and community services, medical labor force, nursing and midwifery, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology. [from publisher]

This paper describes the history of development of a WHO code of practice as well as the legal nature and significance of this proposed international instrument. The paper then highlights some key substantive issues to consider when elaborating the text of a WHO code of practice, and presents the process for moving forward the development of a WHO code of practice. [adapted from introduction]

This code provides guidelines for an ethical approach to the international recruitment of health workers in a manner that takes into account the potential impact of such recruitment on health services in the source country and it seeks to safeguard the rights of recruits, and the conditions relating to their profession in the recruiting countries. [from author]

The Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method is a human resource management tool. It provides health managers a systematic way to make staffing decisions in order to manage their valuable human resources.

This paper begins with a review of general practice financing in Australia, and how nurses are currently funded. We then examine the influence on funding structures on the role of the nurse. We set out three dilemmas for policymakers in this area: lack of an evidence base for incentives, possible untoward impacts on interdisciplinary functioning, and the substitution/enhancement debate. [from abstract]

This article examines the different methods used in National Health Service (NHS) workforce planning and development. It is designed to help nurse managers select and apply methods for evaluating or estimating their staffing needs and looks at the future for workforce planning and development. [from abstract]

Addressing the challenges of the health crisis requires collaboration from multiple sectors and stakeholders with complementary roles. The CCF approach to human resources for health requires establishing and supporting the necessary governance structures for intersectoral coordination and collaboration to plan, implement and monitor health workforce development and retention at the country level, while working through one national HRH plan for an integrated health workforce response. [adapted from foreword]

In this edition of CapacityPlus Voices, Mary Roroi of the National Department of Health in Papua New Guinea and Dr. Zulfiqar Khan of the World Health Organization in Pakistan discuss how they’re applying the HRH Action Framework to strengthen the health workforce. [from author]

This report considers the degree to which National Health Service workforce planning in England is likely to support the delivery of a workforce that is fit for the future. To inform this assessment, the authors examine current developments at national and regional level, highlight relevant international experience, and propose ways in which planning could be made more effective. [from summary]

Numerous initiatives were undertaken during the third Health Sector Development Programme (HSDP III) to achieve universal access to primary health care, notably through the implementation of the health extension program and the accelerated expansion of health centers. This report highlights the major achievements and challenges of the health sector in 2002 under five major sections: leadership and governance, human resources development and management, essential medical products and technologies, service delivery and quality of care, and health financing.

The human resource crisis facing the Zambian health sector has potential to derail existing health programs including millennium development goals. This paper will highlight the underpinning factors, analyze current interventions and propose alternative solutions to this crisis. [from abstract]

This study focuses on the recruitment practices of Canada (a country with a long reliance on internationally trained HHR) and recruiters working for Canadian health authorities. [adapted from abstract]

The aim of this policy is to promote high standards of practice in the recruitment and employment of health professionals who are not South African Citizens or permanent residents in the health sector in South Africa. It attempts to preclude the active recruitment of health professionals from developing countries without specific government agreements. [adapted from author]

This paper has two objectives: to identify the key challenges in HRH planning in Belgium and to formulate recommendations for an effective HRH planning, on the basis of the Belgian case study and lessons drawn from an international benchmarking. [from abstract]

The report provides available data on the health workforce in Potuguese-speaking
African countries to support the responsible staff and partners in identifying the needs for intervention to improve the national and regional capacity for the development of human resources for health. [adapted from summary]

The purpose of this guide is to increase awareness of the HRH Action Framework (HAF), which is designed to assist governments and health managers to develop and implement a comprehensive HRH strategy that will result in an effective and sustainable health workforce. [adapted from author]

This study focuses on the implementation and evaluation of the Forecasting Future Workforce Demand Tool. It was hypothesized that implementation of the tool would enable hospitals to enter historical workforce data to create one to five-year forecasts for proactive HHR planning and strategy development. [from summary]

With the aim of arriving at a better understanding of specific dimensions of health workforce inequalities in their national contexts, three case studies are presented from Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico. [from introduction]

Spain has gone from a surplus to a shortage of medical doctors in very few years. Medium and long-term planning for health professionals has become a high priority for health authorities. This study used a supply and demand-need simulation model for 43 medical specialties using system dynamics to colculate the supply and the deficit or surplus. [adapted from abstract]

The development of a framework for human resource planning for the pharmaceutical secotr forms the basis for strengthening this sector. Thus the generation of evidence to support pharmaceutical human resources planning strategies is vital. This report is a preliminary assessment of the pharmaceutical workforce in Ghana. [from preface]

Lack of comprehensive data on personnel in the pharmaceutical sector is a gap in national human resource for health policies in most developing countries. This study was undertaken in order to determine the total workforce providing pharmaceutical services in both the public and private sectors in Tanzania. [from summary]

This desk review has put together a situation analysis of the professional practice environment in Zambia today, bringing out a picture of unhealthy, unproductive work environments. [from summary]

This report focuses on AIDS donors and on how they can better use their funding to address health workforce issues. It introduces the HRH crisis, the evolving approaches of AIDS donors, how these approaches to health workforce strengthening and development have played out in practice in Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia and makes recommendations meant to inform the ongoing deliberations of AIDS donors as they work out the implementation details of their health system strengthening commitments. [adapted from author]

This important document strives to address the issues and challenges facing the health workforce in Belize and further strengthens the foundation upon which Belize continues to build a vision of quality health care for all Belizeans.[from author]

This is an independent evaluation of the six-year Emergency Human Resource Programme, which was designed to address the health crisis in Malawi largely caused by an acute shortage of professional workers in the public health sector. Central to this commitment was the need to improve staffing levels and increase the production of health workers through a coherent package of financial incentives and investments in local health training institutions. [from summary]

To address the HRH crisis, the Ministry of Health in Zambia plans to double the annual number of health training graduates in the next five years to increase the supply of health workers. This article determined the feasibility and costs of doubling training institution output through an individual school assessment framework. [adapted from abstract]

Pay-for-performance (P4P) is one of the primary tools used to support healthcare delivery reform. This paper summarizes evidence, obtained from studies published between January 1990 and July 2009, concerning P4P effects, as well as evidence on the impact of design choices, and contextual mediators on these effects. [from abstract]

This report summarizes a a rapid mapping of HRH resources in Pacific Island countries to generate baseline data on the current HRH situation in the region, information on in-country and external education institutions involved in HRH development, and data on external partners providing HRH-related assistance. [adapted from summary]

Shortages of health workers are obstacles to utilising global health initiative (GHI) funds effectively in Africa. This paper reports and analyses two countries’ health workforce responses during a period of large increases in GHI funds. [from abstract]