Health workforce policies in OECD countries: Right jobs, right skills, right places
English
Information is gathered from other international organizations that promote skills development and the transition from education and training to work. The Interagency Group on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (IAG-TVET) was established in 2009 to share research findings, coordinate joint research endeavours, and improve collaboration among organizations working at the international and national levels.
Sectoral approaches
Matching skills to labour market demand requires reliable sectoral and occupational information and institutions that connect employers with training providers. Sector based strategies and institutions have proved effective in engaging all stakeholders in promoting both pre-employment training and life-long learning.
Training quality and relevance
Research papers
Working papers, reports, and other publications from international organizations, academic institutions and bilateral agencies. Research findings to stimulate informed debate on skills, employment and productivity issues.
Despite this growth, discussions about health workforce issues in OECD countries often continue to focus on shortages of health workers, with persisting concerns that the upcoming retirement of the 'baby-boom' generation of doctors and nurses might exacerbate such shortages. This publication finds that OECD countries anticipated this wave of retirement by increasing student intakes in medical and nursing education programmes over the past decade. In addition, pension reforms and other initiatives have increased retention rates of doctors and nurses in the profession, also contributing to maintain if not increasing the supply. In this context, health workforce concerns have shifted from worries of widespread shortages towards more specific issues related to ensuring the right mix of health workers, with the right skills, and providing services in the right places, to better respond to changing population health needs.
This publication analyses recent trends and policies adopted by OECD countries affecting the demand and supply of health workers. While it focuses on doctors and nurses given the predominant role they continue to play, it also highlights efforts underway to move beyond these traditional professional boundaries. Addressing the future health needs of ageing populations, with many more people living with one or more chronic conditions, will require more innovations in health service delivery than those we have seen so far. There will be a need to use more effectively new technologies and the skills of different categories of health workers at all levels, and to provide more effective access to services to people, wherever they live.
DOI: 10.1787/9789264239517-en