Chair: Dr Eszter Kovács, Semmelweis University

The importance of sustainable health workforce with the right combined skills is increasingly recognised in Europe. Skill mix for health professionals refers to the “the mix of posts in the establishment; the mix of employees in a post; the combination of skills available at a specific time; or alternatively, it may refer to the combinations of activities that comprise each role” (WHO, 2000). Throughout the world, countries are experiencing shortages of health care workers and policy-makers are attempting to negate these risks by developing a range of methods and initiatives to optimise the available workforce and achieve the right mix of personnel needed to provide high-quality care. There is an increasing body of research assessing the policy, planning, implementation and realisation needs of Skill Mix and Competency Based Policy Making which is proving that changes to policy regarding the health workforce as whole can have beneficial outcomes for healthcare systems. This Working Group will aim to increase participants knowledge, improve their tools and assist them in succeeding in achieving a higher effectiveness in health workforce planning processes and policy. It will also aim to bridge the gap between policy makers, practitioners and educators by breaking down policy changes and providing a platform to discuss what this means for health professional education, training and development.  

For more information please visit: https://inhwe.org/health-workforce-policy-and-research