Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce.

Approximately 13% of the total UK workforce is employed in the health and care sector. Despite substantial workforce planning efforts, the effectiveness of this planning has been criticised. Education, training, and workforce plans have typically considered each health-care profession in isolation and have not adequately responded to changing health and care needs. The results are persistent vacancies, poor morale, and low retention. Areas of particular concern highlighted in this Health Policy paper include primary care, mental health, nursing, clinical and non-clinical support, and social care. Responses to workforce shortfalls have included a high reliance on foreign and temporary staff, small-scale changes in skill mix, and enhanced recruitment drives. Impending challenges for the UK health and care workforce include growing multimorbidity, an increasing shortfall in the supply of unpaid carers, and the relative decline of the attractiveness of the National Health Service (NHS) as an employer internationally. We argue that to secure a sustainable and fit-for-purpose health and care workforce, integrated workforce approaches need to be developed alongside reforms to education and training that reflect changes in roles and skill mix, as well as the trend towards multidisciplinary working. Enhancing career development opportunities, promoting staff wellbeing, and tackling discrimination in the NHS are all needed to improve recruitment, retention, and morale of staff. An urgent priority is to offer sufficient aftercare and support to staff who have been exposed to high-risk situations and traumatic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to growing calls to recognise and reward health and care staff, growth in pay must at least keep pace with projected rises in average earnings, which in turn will require linking future NHS funding allocations to rises in pay. Through illustrative projections, we show that, to sustain annual growth in the workforce at approximately 2·4%, increases in NHS expenditure of 4% annually in real terms will be required. Above all, a radical long-term strategic vision is needed to ensure that the future NHS workforce is fit for purpose.

A simple and flexible model to calculate annual merit raises for health sciences faculty.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to develop and implement a simple and flexible mathematical model to generate merit-based salary increases as a percentage of the faculty base salaries, with the flexibility to choose the range of merit raises. METHODS: Annual faculty performance scores, faculty base salaries, and available salary increase pool were used in a relatively simple linear model to determine the individual faculty merit raises as a percentage of their base salary. The core model allows the selection of a slope value that determines how steeply the merit raise changes with a change in the performance score. The application of the method to different scenarios, including random and non-random distribution of salaries and performance scores, was also tested. More advanced versions of the core model, where the slope value is calculated based on various criteria, are presented in an appendix. The models were incorporated into spreadsheets, which automatically calculate percent merit raises for different input scenarios. RESULTS: The developed method successfully estimates percent merit raises for individual faculty to precisely match the available merit pool fund. Additionally, merit raises simulated for scenarios with different slopes indicate that the range of distribution of percent merit raise is directly proportional to the slope, i.e., doubling the slope doubles the difference in the percent merit raises for the faculty with the lowest and highest performance scores. The application of the method to different scenarios indicates that the method is robust and independent of the available merit raise pool or distribution patterns of the salaries and performance scores among faculty. CONCLUSION: Faculty merit raises may be easily calculated using a relatively simple model, which may be applied to a variety of cases where flexibility in the degree of distribution of raises is desired.

Perspectivas profissionais e motivações de estudantes de Medicina para atuação na Estratégia Saúde da Família / Professional perspectives and motivations of Medicine students to work with Family Health Strategy / Perspectivas profesionales y motivaciones de estudiantes de Medicina para actuación en la Estrategia Salud de la Familia

Este estudo objetiva caracterizar aspectos motivacionais de futuros médicos relativos às perspectivas profissionais e atuação na Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) e as estratégias indutoras do projeto político-pedagógico (PPP) dos cursos. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo-exploratório, de abordagem qualitativa, com 31 estudantes de Medicina de duas instituições de ensino. Os dados foram coletados a partir da análise dos PPPs e de entrevista. O material empírico foi analisado pela técnica de análise de conteúdo, à luz do referencial da Teoria da Autodeterminação. Emergiram três categorias analíticas: motivação intrínseca, motivação extrínseca e desmotivação. Os resultados demonstraram a ESF como oportunidade de trabalho temporário, com ideologia que cativa os acadêmicos, mas a ação das forças motivadoras extrínsecas resulta na não escolha da área para carreira. É fundamental explorar, nos estudantes, o potencial motivacional intrínseco, desenvolvendo estratégias para romper barreiras que limitam a escolha pela ESF.(AU)

This study aims at describing the motivational aspects of future doctors as to their professional perspectives of working in Family Health Strategy (ESF) and the inducing strategies of the course's Political and Pedagogical Project (PPP). This descriptive and exploratory study of qualitative approach was conducted with 31 Medicine students of two education institutions. Data were collected based on the PPP analysis and through interview. The empirical material was reviewed using the content analysis technique based on the Self-determination Theory. Three analytical categories emerged: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and demotivation. The results showed ESF is a temporary job opportunity with an ideology that captivates academics. However, extrinsic motivations end up forcing students not to choose the area as a career. It is essential to explore the intrinsic motivational potential of students developing strategies to overcome barriers that limit choosing ESF as a career path.(AU)

El objetivo de este estudio es caracterizar aspectos motivacionales de futuros médicos relativos a las perspectivas profesionales y actuación en la Estrategia Salud de la Familia (ESF) y las estrategias inductores del Proyecto Político Pedagógico (PPP) de los cursos. Estudio descriptivo-exploratorio, de abordaje cualitativo, con 31 estudiantes de Medicina de dos instituciones de enseñanza. Los datos se colectaron a partir del análisis de los PPP y por entrevista. El material empírico se analizó por la técnica de análisis de contenido, a la luz del referencial de la Teoría de la Autodeterminación. Surgieron tres categorías analíticas: motivación intrínseca, motivación extrínseca y desmotivación. Los resultados demostraron la ESF como oportunidad de trabajo temporal con ideología que cautiva a los académicos, pero la acción de las fuerzas motivadoras extrínsecas resulta en la no elección del área para carrera. Es fundamental explorar, en los estudiantes, el potencial motivacional intrínseco, desarrollando estrategias para romper barreras que limitan la elección por la ESF.(AU)

Feminisation of the health workforce and wage conditions of health professions: an exploratory analysis.

BACKGROUND: The feminisation of the global health workforce presents a unique challenge for human resource policy and health sector reform which requires an explicit gender focus. Relatively little is known about changes in the gender composition of the health workforce and its impact on drivers of global health workforce dynamics such as wage conditions. In this article, we use a gender analysis to explore if the feminisation of the global health workforce leads to a deterioration of wage conditions in health. METHODS: We performed an exploratory, time series analysis of gender disaggregated WageIndicator data. We explored global gender trends, wage gaps and wage conditions over time in selected health occupations. We analysed a sample of 25 countries over 9 years between 2006 and 2014, containing data from 970,894 individuals, with 79,633 participants working in health occupations (48,282 of which reported wage data). We reported by year, country income level and health occupation grouping. RESULTS: The health workforce is feminising, particularly in lower- and upper-middle-income countries. This was associated with a wage gap for women of 26 to 36% less than men, which increased over time. In lower- and upper-middle-income countries, an increasing proportion of women in the health workforce was associated with an increasing gender wage gap and decreasing wage conditions. The gender wage gap was pronounced in both clinical and allied health professions and over lower-middle-, upper-middle- and high-income countries, although the largest gender wage gaps were seen in allied healthcare occupations in lower-middle-income countries. CONCLUSION: These results, if a true reflection of the global health workforce, have significant implications for health policy and planning and highlight tensions between current, purely economic, framing of health workforce dynamics and the need for more extensive gender analysis. They also highlight the value of a more nuanced approach to health workforce planning that is gender sensitive, specific to countries' levels of development, and considers specific health occupations.

Using cost-analyses to inform health professions education - The economic cost of pre-clinical failure.

BACKGROUND: Student failure creates additional economic costs. Knowing the cost of failure helps to frame its economic burden relative to other educational issues, providing an evidence-base to guide priority setting and allocation of resources. The Ingredients Method is a cost-analysis approach which has been previously applied to health professions education research. In this study, the Ingredients Method is introduced, and applied to a case study, investigating the cost of pre-clinical student failure. METHODS: The four step Ingredients Method was introduced and applied: (1) identify and specify resource items, (2) measure volume of resources in natural units, (3) assign monetary prices to resource items, and (4) analyze and report costs. Calculations were based on a physiotherapy program at an Australian university. RESULTS: The cost of failure was £5991 per failing student, distributed across students (70%), the government (21%), and the university (8%). If the cost of failure and attrition is distributed among the remaining continuing cohort, the cost per continuing student educated increases from £9923 to £11,391 per semester. CONCLUSIONS: The economics of health professions education is complex. Researchers should consider both accuracy and feasibility in their costing approach, toward the goal of better informing cost-conscious decision-making.

Predicting working beyond retirement in the Netherlands: an interdisciplinary approach involving occupational epidemiology and economics.

Objectives No study so far has combined register-based socioeconomic information with self-reported information on health, demographics, work characteristics, and the social environment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether socioeconomic, health, demographic, work characteristics and social environmental characteristics independently predict working beyond retirement. Methods Questionnaire data from the Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation were linked to data from Statistics Netherlands. A prediction model was built consisting of the following blocks: socioeconomic, health, demographic, work characteristics and the social environment. First, univariate analyses were performed (P0<.15), followed by correlations and logistic multivariate regression analyses with backward selection per block (P0<.15). All remaining factors were combined into one final model (P0<.05). Results In the final model, only factors from the blocks health, work and social environmental characteristics remained. Better physical health, being intensively physically active for >2 days/week, higher body height, and working in healthcare predicted working beyond retirement. If respondents had a permanent contract or worked in handcraft, or had a partner that did not like them to work until the official retirement age, they were less likely to work beyond retirement. Conclusion Health, work characteristics and social environment predicted working beyond retirement, but register-based socioeconomic and demographic characteristics did not independently predict working beyond retirement. This study shows that working beyond retirement is multifactorial.

The real cost of training health professionals in Australia: it costs as much to build a dietician workforce as a dental workforce.

Objectives We explored the real cost of training the workforce in a range of primary health care professions in Australia with a focus on the impact of retention to contribute to the debate on how best to achieve the optimal health workforce mix. Methods The cost to train an entry-level health professional across 12 disciplines was derived from university fees, payment for clinical placements and, where relevant, cost of internship, adjusted for student drop-out. Census data were used to identify the number of qualified professionals working in their profession over a working life and to model expected years of practice by discipline. Data were combined to estimate the mean cost of training a health professional per year of service in their occupation. Results General medical graduates were the most expensive to train at $451,000 per completing student and a mean cost of $18,400 per year of practice (expected 24.5 years in general practice), while dentistry also had a high training cost of $352,180 but an estimated costs of $11,140 per year of practice (based on an expected 31.6 years in practice). Training costs are similar for dieticians and podiatrists, but because of differential workforce retention (mean 14.9 vs 31.5 years), the cost of training per year of clinical practice is twice as high for dieticians ($10,300 vs. $5200), only 8% lower than that for dentistry. Conclusions Return on investment in training across professions is highly variable, with expected time in the profession as important as the direct training cost. These results can indicate where increased retention and/or attracting trained professionals to return to practice should be the focus of any supply expansion versus increasing the student cohort.

Exploring the institutional logics of health professions education scholarship units.

CONTEXT: Although health professions education scholarship units (HPESUs) share a commitment to the production and dissemination of rigorous educational practices and research, they are situated in many different contexts and have a wide range of structures and functions. OBJECTIVES: In this study, the authors explore the institutional logics common across HPESUs, and how these logics influence the organisation and activities of HPESUs. METHODS: The authors analysed interviews with HPESU leaders in Canada (n = 12), Australia (n = 21), New Zealand (n = 3) and the USA (n = 11). Using an iterative process, they engaged in inductive and deductive analyses to identify institutional logics across all participating HPESUs. They explored the contextual factors that influence how these institutional logics impact each HPESU's structure and function. RESULTS: Participants identified three institutional logics influencing the organisational structure and functions of an HPESU: (i) the logic of financial accountability; (ii) the logic of a cohesive education continuum, and (iii) the logic of academic research, service and teaching. Although most HPESUs embodied all three logics, the power of the logics varied among units. The relative power of each logic influenced leaders' decisions about how members of the unit allocate their time, and what kinds of scholarly contribution and product are valued by the HPESU. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying the configuration of these three logics within and across HPESUs provides insights into the reasons why individual units are structured and function in particular ways. Having a common language in which to discuss these logics can enhance transparency, facilitate evaluation, and help leaders select appropriate indicators of HPESU success.

The development of the nursing profession in a globalised context: A qualitative case study in Kerala, India.

In the paper, we are looking at the relationship between globalisation and the professional project, using nursing in Kerala as an exemplar. Our focus is on the intersection of the professional project, gender and globalisation processes. Included in our analysis are the ways in which gender affects the professional project in the global south, and the development of a professional project which it is closely tied to global markets and global migration, revealing the political-economic, historical, and cultural factors that influence the shape and consequences of nurse migration. The phenomenon that enabled our analysis, by showing these forces at work in a particular time and place, was an outbreak of strikes by nurses working in private hospitals in Kerala in 2011-2012.

Economic issues and public alcohol abuse prevention policies in France / Enjeux économiques et politiques publiques de lutte contre la consommation nocive d'alcool en France.

Objective: To analyse the impact of the alcohol market on the implementation of strong-willed public alcohol abuse prevention policies based on a critical review of the literature. Method: Documentary research and analysis of the alcohol market economic data were performed. An overview of public alcohol abuse prevention policies was conducted from a historical perspective by distinguishing drunkenness control policies, protection of vulnerable populations, and the fight against drink driving and drinking in the workplace. Results: Public alcohol abuse prevention policies are primarily designed to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol occurring as a result of a drinking episode (motor vehicle accident, highway accidents, etc.), while neglecting the long-term consequences (cancer, cirrhosis, etc.). Moreover, while taxation is one of the major public health tools used to reduce the costs of alcohol-related damage on society, the State exercises legislative and tax protection for alcoholic beverages produced in France. In particular, wine benefits from a lower tax rate than other stronger forms of alcohol (spirits, liquors, etc.). The economic weight of the alcohol market can provide an explanation for these public alcohol abuse prevention policies. Conclusion: In view of the mortality caused by alcohol abuse, France must implement a proactive public policy. An alcohol taxation policy based on the alcohol content, a minimum unit pricing for alcohol, or higher taxes on alcohol are public policies that could be considered in order to reduce alcohol-related mortality.

Ensuring accountability through health professional regulatory bodies: the case of conflict of interest.

How do self-regulated health professions' regulatory bodies address financial conflict of interest (coi) and ensure accountability to the public? using document analysis, we examined how four ontario regulatory colleges (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, audiologists/speech-language pathologists) defined coi and the education, guidance and enforcement they provided for coi-related issues. These colleges are upholding the mandates to define, identify and address financial coi by providing regulations or standards and guidelines to their membership; they differed in the amount of educational materials provided to their registrants and in the possible coi scenarios they presented. Although there were few disciplinary hearings pertaining to financial coi, findings for the hearings that did occur were documented and posted on the college public registers (the listing of all registered college members along with all relevant practice information), informing the public of any limitations or restrictions placed on a member as a result of the hearing.

Armenia: health system review.

This analysis of the Armenian health system reviews the developments in organization and governance, health financing, healthcare provision, health reforms and health system performance since 2006. Armenia inherited a Semashko style health system on independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Initial severe economic and sociopolitical difficulties during the 1990s affected the population health, though strong economic growth from 2000 benefited the populations health. Nevertheless, the Armenian health system remains unduly tilted towards inpatient care concentrated in the capital city despite overall reductions in hospital beds and concerted efforts to reform primary care provision. Changes in health system financing since independence have been more profound, as out-of-pocket (OOP) payments now account for over half of total health expenditure. This reduces access to essential services for the poorest households - particularly for inpatient care and pharmaceuticals - and many households face catastrophic health expenditure. Improving health system performance and financial equity are therefore the key challenges for health system reform. The scaling up of some successful recent programmes for maternal and child health may offer solutions, but require sustained financial resources that will be challenging in the context of financial austerity and the low base of public financing.