Many European countries are faced with health workforce shortages and the need to develop effective recruitment and retention (R&R) strategies. Yet comparative studies on R&R in Europe are scarce. This paper provides an overview of the measures in place to improve the R&R of health professionals across Europe and offers further insight into the evidence base for R&R; the interaction between policy and organisational levels in driving R&R outcomes; the facilitators and barriers throughout these process; and good practices in the R&R of health professionals across Europe. The study adopted a multi-method approach combining an extensive literature review and multiple-case study research. 64 publications were included in the review and 34 R&R interventions from 20 European countries were included in the multiple-case study. We found a consistent lack of evidence about the effectiveness of R&R interventions. Most interventions are not explicitly part of a coherent package of measures but they tend to involve multiple actors from policy and organisational levels, sometimes in complex configurations. A list of good practices for R&R interventions was identified, including context-sensitivity when implementing and transferring interventions to different organisations and countries. While single R&R interventions on their own have little impact, bundles of interventions are more effective. Interventions backed by political and executive commitment benefit from a strong support base and involvement of relevant stakeholders.
BackgroundUniversal health coverage requires a health workforce that is available, accessible, and well-performing. This article presents a critical analysis of the health workforce needs for the delivery of maternal and neonatal health services in Guinea, and of feasible and relevant interventions to improve the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce in the country.MethodsA needs-based approach was used to project human resources for health (HRH) requirements. This was combined with modeling of future health sector demand and supply. A baseline scenario with disaggregated need and supply data for the targeted health professionals per region and setting (urban or rural) informed the identification of challenges related to the availability and distribution of the workforce between 2014 and 2024. Subsequently, the health labor market framework was used to identify interventions to improve the availability and distribution of the health workforce. These interventions were included in the supply side modeling, in order to create a “policy rich” scenario B which allowed for analysis of their potential impact.ResultsIn the Republic of Guinea, only 44% of the nurses and 18% of the midwives required for maternal and neonatal health services are currently available. If Guinea continues on its current path without scaling up recruitment efforts, the total stock of HRH employed by the public sector will decline by 15% between 2014 and 2024, while HRH needs will grow by 22% due to demographic trends. The high density of HRH in urban areas and the high number of auxiliary nurses who are currently employed pose an opportunity for improving the availability, accessibility, and performance of the health workforce for maternal and neonatal health in Guinea, especially in rural areas.ConclusionGuinea will need to scale up its recruitment efforts in order to improve health workforce availability. Targeted labor market interventions need to be planned and executed over several decades to correct entrenched distortions and mismatches between workforce need, supply, and demand. The case of Guinea illustrates how to design and operationalize HRH interventions based on workforce projections to accompany and facilitate universal health coverage reforms.
IntroductionLaboratory services are key to the quality of healthcare but have remained a historicallyneglected component of health systems in low-and middle-income countries. The need for quality medical laboratory services to form an integrated part of the health system has been widely acknowledged by key national and international players during the past decade, resulting in the mobilisation of substantial funding earmarked for laboratory improvement in resource-limited settings. 1,2 Alongside these efforts, the development of a national laboratory policy and strategic plan (NLSP) relevant to each country's needs, and aligned with its health policy(ies) and plan(s), has also been advocated. 3,4,5 A national laboratory policy defines the vision and the mission of a country's laboratory system, whereas a strategic plan provides the corresponding roadmap guiding the process of the practical implementation of the necessary laboratory system improvement. The coherence of NLSPs with other national health guidance documents, such as national health policies, plans for development of human resources for the health sector, or disease-specific policies or plans, increases the likelihood that laboratory development strategies will be implemented.Despite the recent prioritisation of laboratory services in global and national health agendas, various aspects of the laboratory system fail to meet standards in several countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Clinical diagnostic capacity often remains insufficient for the control of HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases and for responding to the rise in incidence of noncommunicable diseases. 6,7,8 In addition, the lack of laboratory-based surveillance precludes the Background:The 2008 Maputo Declaration calls for the development of dedicated national laboratory policies and strategic plans supporting the enhancement of laboratory services in response to the long-lasting relegation of medical laboratory systems in sub-Saharan Africa.Objectives: This study describes the extent to which laboratories are addressed in the national health policies and plans created directly following the 2008 momentum for laboratory strengthening.Method: National health policies and plans from 39 sub-Saharan African countries, valid throughout and beyond 31 December 2010 were collected in March 2012 and analysed during 2013. Results:Laboratories were addressed by all countries. Human resources were the most addressed topic (38/39) and finances and budget were the least addressed (< 5/39). Countries lagging behind in national laboratory strategic planning at the end of 2013 (17/39) were more likely to be francophone countries located in West-Central Africa (13/17) and have historically low HIV prevalence. The most common gaps anticipated to compromise the implementation of the policies and plans were the disconnect between policies and plans, under-developed finance sections and monitoring and evaluating frameworks, absence of points of reference to define gaps and shortages, and inappropr...
The study proposed a conceptual framework and indicators for regular monitoring of the training-recruitment-deployment chain to allow in-depth analysis of its dynamics. This approach supports the formulation of appropriate strategies and better follow-up of the effects of interventions by the Ministry of Health.
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