Alicja Domagała

Human resources planning in health care system – the need or the necessity?

The article presents the main assumptions and limitations of human resources planning in health care system and conditions of this process in Poland. The results of the WHO research inform about the world crisis of medical staff. The situation in our country is extremely difficult due to lack of formal organization/structure responsible for planning of human resources for health. Moreover the core indicators of Polish medical staff (physicians-per population ratio, nurses- per population ratio) are one of the lowest in Europe. Public health experts and professional associations of medical staff (e.g. National Chamber of Nurses and Midwifes) have developed worrisome forecasts of the availability of the medical staff in our country but policy makers don’t undertake activity in this field.
For the purpose of dealing with problems of medical staff shortages in Poland it is necessary to establish cooperation of different partners and institutions (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, professional association, medical universities, data collection institutions, unions, health service providers). Planners and decision makers should develop and implement models and strategies for planning of medical staff which are need-based, outcome-directed and that recognize the complex and dynamic nature of health care services.
 

The European hospitals’ functioning determinants with special emphasis on the human resources issue

The aim of the article is to present the scope of determinants influencing hospitals’ functioning in contemporary Europe with emphasize put on the health sector human recourses issue. Multiplicity of the functions realized by the hospitals units relates to the plurality of determinants which influence their present situation as well as long-term transformation processes. The determinants can be categorized into three main groups: these related to the demand side of the hospital services, their supply and determinants being the results of the social and economic changes. Regardless of the differences existing between health systems in specific countries – all European countries are facing similar problems of increasing health care costs, strong need of efficiency improvement and deficits of medical staff. In case of the hospital sector the key issue is number of beds reduction and transformation of the hospitals’ organizational form

Cooperationbetween the health sector and education, based on the idea of the Health Impact Assessment

The main aim ofthis article is to emphasize theinterrelationships between educational activities and the state of health of the population, based on the use of Health Impact Assessment. According WHO, Health Impact Assessment is defined as: “a combination of procedures, methods, and tools by which a policy, program, or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within that population.”An HIA is intended to support decision-making choose among options by predicting the health consequences of each option. Health Impact Assessment looks at health from a community perspective. It considers different determinants of health (e.g. social, economic, political, physical) when examining the potential health effects of a proposal. Activities of educational sector have significant impact on the healthof both individuals and society as a whole. This impact is  obvious (education is important social determinant of health) and supported by a number of scientific evidence. Better understanding of the relationship between education and health will help to identify where intervention is most appropriate and effective in improving both individual and population health.In Poland there is no proven models of cooperation between these two sectors, so it is necessary to take joint action and close cooperation between Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sport and many other organizations active in this field

Green Paper on the European Workforce for Health in Europe is a very important document, and decisions made in its light will affect European Union health policy for years to come. Health policies across Europe should be coordinated so that recommended guidelines, designed to reduce inequities, with monitoring to promote their  se in a consistent manner across the EU, particularly but not exclusively by addressing the social determinants of health. Health services are one of the largest groups of employers in most developed countries, and therefore they constitute an important component of national economies. To improve the health of the populations of Europe, and equity of health status, public health education and research need to be a leading part of the health workforce development programme of the EU.
EU health systems have to perform a difficult balancing act, firstly between increasing demands on health services and restricted supply; secondly between the need to respond to people’s health needs locally but also to be prepared for major public health crises. There are a number of challenges facing health systems in Europe.
1) Policy makers and health authorities have to face the challenge of adapting their healthcare systems to an ageing population.
2) The introduction of new technology is making it possible to increase the range and quality of healthcare in terms of diagnosis, prevention and treatment, but this has to be paid for and staff need to be trained to use it.
3) There are new and re-emerging threats to health, for example from communicable diseases.
4) All of this is leading to continually increasing spending on health and indeed is posing major longer-term issues for the sustainability of health systems in some countries.
To respond adequately to these challenges requires health systems to have efficient and effective work forces of the highest quality as health services are very labour intensive. Challenges facing the EU public health situation population include ageing, migration, and include infectious and non-infectious diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer, nutritional conditions, disaster preparation, and injury control; along with many other issues of public health, such as management and priorities of health care systems. All are crucial for the future quality of life in Europe. A professional public health workforce is essential for society to be able to meet these public health challenges with high standards of cost-effective interventions