National Health Workforce Observatories. Concept and Implementation strategy. In the context of Africa Health Workforce Observatory DRAFT

Transcription

1 National Health Workforce Observatories In the context of Africa Health Workforce Observatory Concept and Implementation strategy DRAFT Division of Health Systems and Services Development Regional Office for Africa 1

2 Introduction The Observatory of Health Human Resources for Africa is proposed as a cooperative network initiative among the countries and different partners of the Region promoted by AFRO, to produce information and knowledge necessary for improving human resources policy decisions, and sharing the country experiences in order to improve human resource development in the health services. The name -Observatory- is used in the sense of the networking of the Governments, stakeholders and gathering partners around a strong evidence base. The Observatory is envisaged as a network to comprise of national observatories (which brings together the stakeholders at country level) and a regional secretariat. The network will allow defining priorities and strategies through promoting to produce better information, consolidating databases, keeping track of progress and to promote action. This is also seen as a strong vehicle to share information and capacity building. The members of the national observatory will undertake studies to contribute to the process and policy- making. The overall objective of the Observatory is to contribute to the HRH development in the region for strengthening of the national health systems for effective and efficient service delivery. The specific objectives are to: a. develop national capacity for evaluation and monitoring of HRH situation and trends b. provide information and evidence for the formulation of HRH development policies, strategies, plans and their implementation c. provide a forum for partnership, sharing of experience and advocacy in HRH development d. facilitate networking of expertise in HRH and health systems in order to strengthen country capacity which will then feed into regional context e. serve as an early warning system or whistle blower on HRH impending situations f. contribute to the regional context of the observatory The institutional arrangements for the HRH observatory are envisaged as a partnership of individual experts and resource institutions based on networking. A partnership will be developed involving national institutions and multilateral and bilateral agencies. Regional coordination of the networks is planned, in order to facilitate their functioning. The HRH observatory in Africa will involve interlinked functions at national and regional levels (for details see concept paper for African Health Workforce Observatory) What is national HRH Observatory? 2

3 National HRH Observatory is seen as a national resource for producing, sharing and utilizing health workforce information and evidence to support HRH policy implementation. It involves a network of all resources and stakeholders in health workforce development in the country that monitors and documents implementation of HRH policy and strategies. The members of the network maintain their own identity and routine responsibilities while sharing the results of their work in a more systematic way, developing their workplans in a more coordinated way to respond to the commonly identified country needs. The efforts will build on existing partnerships and involve all constituencies, such as Government (Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Public Service Commission, National Statistics Office, etc), Academia Professional associations NGOs, etc Interested Community, Civil society consumer/client groups What will National HRH Observatories do? The national observatory groups will: monitor trends that have an impact on HRH policies as a shared agenda; undertake research/studies; share information to contribute to policy development; improve data quality on different sources, develop new data instruments that capture necessary aspect of workforce development and use develop means for data and information storage and retrieval engage in evidence based policy dialogue; and contribute to HRH capacity building within country and in the region. What type of activities will they undertake? While a small set of core actions may be helpful to all countries, each National HRH Observatory will identify their activities according to the country context, needs and dynamics. The national observatories can start with a process of establishing a) the country profile, b) a national dialogue to determine what the major HRH 3

4 issues and challenges are and areas of success, c) evolve a sense of priority HRH information and evidence needs. Accordingly, the follow-up activities may include: Determining various communications needs and make plans to promote and ensure continuous communication and information sharing among the partners. An annual meeting (based on annual HRH Status reports - see profiles) can be a useful mechanism to bring together the partners of the Observatory to share information, their work, discuss health workforce issues and develop workplan for the coming year. They should be motivated to advocate for and promote a national HRH agenda through publications of their work, reviews of operational situations etc or for example, a national health Worker day as well as other means of communication. They should engage with Government and other stakeholders in policy dialogue and defining areas for decision making. Also be involved in HRH policy and planning processes in the country. Encourage exploration of the interfaces between HRH and the overall health system components Undertake activities to enhance the knowledge and evidence base for health workforce development - such as reviews of policy implementation, operational research. Contribute to any intercountry studies coordinated as part of the regional Observatory secretariat or another national observatory activity (secretariat or one partner) may assume the responsibility of facilitating an intercountry study in coordination with the regional secretariat. Assessing the landscape of HRH and HRD in the country. Undertake stakeholder reviews and analysis Assist with developing Country HRH Profiles Establish networks of Country HR experts and Institutions both from within and outside the health sector to enhance the debate on HR Assess data and information systems and availability on HRH in the country and advise on information collation and management Study HR practices in the health sector to develop a local evidence base and knowledge resources. Activities to improve knowledge and evidence base 4

5 The efforts (research, reviews, assessment, policy debates, roundtables, commission reports) are expected to cover a wide range of issues on health workforce, which may cover - eg Availability of health workforce Managing the size, skill mix and organization of the health workforce Using incentives to improve performance of the health workforce Mobility of the health workforce Educating and training the health workforce Legislation and regulation of the health workforce The influence of the political and macroeconomic contexts on the development of national HRH strategies and policies The list above is indicative and each national observatory is expected to develop their own list and priorities. The activities within this framework may include Conduct Country assessments: further analysis of available data, identifying the further data need as well as either promoting the collection of this data or contributing to the collection of the data (i.e. registration data by professional associations, data on training capacity by training institutions) Conduct research into HRH issues: various targeted studies, i.e. to understand the situation better, to evaluate the impacts of interventions, which will depend on the joint workplan as well as the interest and workplan of each partner. Carry out stakeholder analysis and establish networks of contacts and partners, How are they going to be organized and coordinated? A national focal point will facilitate planning and coordinating the work of the national network. The national focal point/coordinator can be based in the MoH or one of the partner institutions of the network. Various mechanisms can be developed for national focal point/coordinator, such as on rotation base, etc. The focal point will facilitate the work of the national observatory by identifying activity areas and responsible group members; ensuring dissemination of the results; organizing the national meetings and training activities; undertaking advocacy activities; and linking with the regional secretariat. The links among the national training institutions will be strengthened and their active involvement to the Observatory activities will be ensured. 5

6 WHO Country offices will facilitate the linkage with the Regional Secretariat and support the national observatories. How can National HRH Observatories be mobilized? In mobilizing national HRH Observatories, identifying and cultivating champions and political leadership in the country is critical. The champions are expected to mobilize partners bring them together around same objectives. The initial activities may include 1. An initial coordination meeting with the stakeholders to share the concept of observatory and sensitize partners and to discuss the next steps and how to move forward 2. A joint planning and preparatory phase for a national health workforce conference (if it has not been addressed in the country). The conference can allow to look at the health workforce issues in a comprehensive way, establish a common ground, identify information and evidence gaps, steps for further policy and planning processes. 3. Once there is a commitment to contribute to the observatory, a workplan can be developed and the partners can volunteer to take some areas forward. How the activities of National HRH Observatories will be financed? The activities of National HRH Observatories can be financed from different sources including both national and external sources. First of all, it should be noted that most activities of the national observatory cited above are part of the responsibilities of national stakeholders and some activities falls in the range of their own budgets and resources. Some seed funding can be allocated through WHO biennial POA and this may cover the coordination expenses of the secretariat. For some studies and meetings, additional resources may require to be mobilized. If necessary, the additional resources can be sought from international and bilateral organizations, most of which have already expressed their support to HRH Observatories. 6