These findings have clear policy implications, especially the need to address the emotional impact of general practice workload and to develop the organisation and skill mix of the general practice workforce to more effectively and sustainably deliver care.
This means not only a stronger educational system, but one in which higher education and workforce development are more effectively integrated and responsive to trends in the labor market, especially sectors where good jobs are being created.
Rather than focusing only on academic skills and higher education alone, we need education and workforce policies that more effectively are linked to sectors and employers where good jobs are being generated.
Furthermore, how can the private sector workforce itself be more effectively regulated and made to synergize to the maximum extent possible with that of the public sector?
Evidence is mounting that these institutions need to do much more than just lower costs: they must improve completion rates, hone their focus on student learning and workforce success, use technology more effectively, and take innovations to scale more quickly.
A better educated workforce is needed to compete more effectively.
20 A key aim of the ICDP was to improve access to PHC, and funding was provided for a new workforce to enhance the capacity of PHC services to more effectively prevent and manage chronic disease (table 1).
In this way, the workforce and system will be better equipped to solve problems in healthcare by more effectively managing, accessing, and utilizing resources, thus truly building capacity [ 10, 11].
But Chris Ham, a health-policy specialist at Birmingham University, thinks that the workforce could fall by 10% without damaging services as long as they are provided more effectively.Rationing and rationalisingIf fundamental improvements in efficiencies are to be made, however, hospitals will have to be rationalised.
There is a growing awareness that human resource issues need to be prioritised more effectively within reforms in order to secure an adequate health care workforce to deliver services now and in the future.
