Growth Summit 2023: Future of Work - Health and Care | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

The future of the healthcare workforce faces challenges such as a global shortage of workers, undervaluation, and burnout. Solutions include increased training, focusing on value-based care, digitalization, and prioritizing equity and diversity.

Key Insights

• 😀 There is a global shortage of healthcare workers, and the pandemic has further highlighted the challenges they face, including burnout and lack of resources.
• 😘 Healthcare workers are often undervalued and underpaid in high-income countries, leading to migration and exacerbating the shortage in low and middle-income countries.
• 😨 Solutions for attracting and retaining healthcare workers include increased investment in training, better working conditions, and leveraging digitalization for more efficient care delivery.
• 🍉 Prioritizing equity, inclusion, and diversity in the healthcare workforce is crucial for long-term resilience and improved patient outcomes.
• 💉 Mental health challenges within the healthcare workforce need to be addressed through breaking the stigma, creating more resources, and adopting proactive measures.
• ⌛ Data collection and analysis, including patient-reported outcomes and healthcare workforce sentiment, can help identify and address potential challenges in real-time.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: How is the shortage of healthcare workers affecting different countries?

The shortage of healthcare workers is affecting countries worldwide. Low and middle-income countries are particularly impacted as their healthcare workers migrate to richer countries for better opportunities, exacerbating the shortage in their home countries.

Q: What needs to be done to attract and retain healthcare workers?

To attract and retain healthcare workers, there is a need for increased investment in training and education. Additionally, providing better working conditions, including fair remuneration, work-life balance, and opportunities for research and lifelong learning, can help retain healthcare workers.

Q: How can digitalization support the healthcare workforce?

Digitalization can help by automating repetitive tasks, allowing healthcare workers to focus more on direct patient care. It can also facilitate efficient triage and remote care, reducing the workload and improving access to healthcare services.

Q: What role does equity and diversity play in the healthcare workforce?

Equity and diversity are crucial for the long-term resilience of the healthcare workforce. It is essential to ensure that healthcare systems prioritize equity, inclusion, and diversity, both in terms of workforce representation and patient care. This requires authentic commitment from leadership, accountability, and structural changes within organizations.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The pandemic highlighted the challenges faced by healthcare workers, such as fatigue, stress, and lack of resources. The situation was already complicated before the pandemic, with undervaluation and underfunding in high-income countries.

• There is an estimated shortfall of 10 million healthcare workers worldwide by 2030. Richer countries are attracting healthcare workers from low and middle-income countries, creating a dangerous global shortage.

• Solutions include increased training and investment in healthcare workers, focusing on value-based care to lower demand, leveraging digitalization for more efficient care delivery, and prioritizing equity, inclusion, and diversity in the healthcare workforce.