Management

3EducationProf. Roland Bal, PhD, director of educationHealth care issues have been given increasing attention in recent years.Newspapers are publishing reports on health care on a daily basis.The gradual introduction of market forcesstimulated by the government has stirredthe emotions and is expected to lead tomore efficient organisation of health care.At the same time, however, this might resultin financial difficulties for health careorganisations.Problems around quality and safety of care– such as ‘pyjama days’, preventable deathsin hospitals, or the use of isolation cells inmental health care organisations – arecommon now. Moreover, the health caresector should become more patient-orientedand should take greater account of possibleprevention measures.The organisation of health care is gaining incomplexity. The so-called ‘double greying’phenomenon (the disproportional rise inthe ageing population) causes an increasingdemand of health care. And the number ofpeople with a chronic disease is on the rise –mainly due to better chances of survival. Inaddition, we are witnessing a tendency tospecialisation, with all problems ofcoordination involved, and also more andmore complex medical technologies arebeing introduced that require organisationalchanges. The greater demand of health carealso has far-reaching consequences for thelabour market.Therefore, the health care sector is facing anumber of great challenges. We will needmany clever and well-educated people totake up these challenges. Of course we needmany health care professionals: doctors,nurses, and paramedics. But we also needmany people who have the skills to helporganise health care in a different way:managers who know all about the ins andouts of health care and who understand thelegal positions of patients, professionals and32