discuss the methods on which health workforce planning is based; and third, the importance of evaluating health workforce planning and its policy effect is explained.
Imbalances in the health workforce According to the standard theory of a ‘perfect’ labour market, the supply and demand of labour tend towards an equilibrium, because wages (the prices of labour) adjust supply and demand (10-12). When labour markets fail to reach a balance between supply and demand, they exhibit either labour surplus or unemployment or labour shortage. When there is a labour shortage, wages are high, attracting more workers to the particular labour market. When there is a labour surplus, wages are low. This mechanism is illustrated in Figure 1 (13-15).
Note: …show more content…
The proposed actions were: 1) forecasting workforce needs and improving workforce planning methodologies, 2) planning future required skills of health professions and, 3) share knowledge on recruitment and retention strategies to make the health workforce sufficient (3). A European approach is needed according to the EU as countries are using a variety of policy instruments to influence the supply of health professionals including training policies, migration policies and policies affecting retention and retirement (21-23). More specifically, these policy instruments include licensing professional occupations, accrediting universities and institutions, subsidizing medical education and restricting entry to the market …show more content…
However, there are other reasons to plan human resources for health (29). The first reason is that planning the health workforce is done to prevent under-employment of highly skilled professionals. Secondly, it is to prevent over-employment of under-skilled employees for complex health care tasks. Third, planning is used to prevent over-treatment of patients if too many medical specialists have been trained. Fourth, it can be used to prevent imbalances in geographical distributions of workforce between rural and urban regions, although this is not an explicit goal of health workforce planning in all countries. The fifth reason is to prevent hiring more workers than can be afforded, reduced productivity, and high personnel turn-over (particularly in countries where the government is hiring health personnel) (29). The base of all reasons are financial considerations; health workforce planning is also an instrument to control health care
Imbalances in the health workforce According to the standard theory of a ‘perfect’ labour market, the supply and demand of labour tend towards an equilibrium, because wages (the prices of labour) adjust supply and demand (10-12). When labour markets fail to reach a balance between supply and demand, they exhibit either labour surplus or unemployment or labour shortage. When there is a labour shortage, wages are high, attracting more workers to the particular labour market. When there is a labour surplus, wages are low. This mechanism is illustrated in Figure 1 (13-15).
Note: …show more content…
The proposed actions were: 1) forecasting workforce needs and improving workforce planning methodologies, 2) planning future required skills of health professions and, 3) share knowledge on recruitment and retention strategies to make the health workforce sufficient (3). A European approach is needed according to the EU as countries are using a variety of policy instruments to influence the supply of health professionals including training policies, migration policies and policies affecting retention and retirement (21-23). More specifically, these policy instruments include licensing professional occupations, accrediting universities and institutions, subsidizing medical education and restricting entry to the market …show more content…
However, there are other reasons to plan human resources for health (29). The first reason is that planning the health workforce is done to prevent under-employment of highly skilled professionals. Secondly, it is to prevent over-employment of under-skilled employees for complex health care tasks. Third, planning is used to prevent over-treatment of patients if too many medical specialists have been trained. Fourth, it can be used to prevent imbalances in geographical distributions of workforce between rural and urban regions, although this is not an explicit goal of health workforce planning in all countries. The fifth reason is to prevent hiring more workers than can be afforded, reduced productivity, and high personnel turn-over (particularly in countries where the government is hiring health personnel) (29). The base of all reasons are financial considerations; health workforce planning is also an instrument to control health care