The 2nd HPD report - Health Policy Monitor

Human Resources for Health
The past decades have brought dramatic changes to health care
systems in developed countries. Financing issues and structural
health policy reform drew much attention. Meanwhile, the health
workforce stood comparatively low on the reform agenda, even
though the knowledge and skills of health care professionals are
key to delivering high-quality services in a rapidly changing
health care environment and crucial to implementing reform.
Health challenges of aging societies, quality management, integrated
care and evidence-based medicine—to name just a few of
the relevant issues—all require specialized training. To meet the
needs of tomorrow’s health care systems, the constant adaptation
of medical and nonmedical professional training, both primary
and advanced, ranks among the most important health policy
tasks. Governments and decision-makers have only recently
begun to address these challenges.
Australia: Policy responses to chronic and acute shortages in the
nursing workforce
A shortage of nurses is apparent in all areas of the Australian
health care system. In areas such as care for the elderly and mental
health care, this shortage is particularly critical. An inquiry
initiated by the Senate in 2002 yielded a comprehensive report on
the key deficits along with recommendations on how to overcome
them.
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