Healthcare human resources – trends and prospects for an aging society
The adverse demographic changes that are the major cause of population aging lead to an increased demand for medical and care staff in healthcare and long-term care (LTC) sectors. As far as LTC is concerned, the situation is especially dire, as this system is still under formation in Poland – these are the main conclusions of the presentation delivered by prof. Stanislawa Golinowska, dr. Agnieszka Sowa and dr. Ewa Kocot during the seminar “Healthcare human resources - trends and perspectives for an the ageing society.” Durning the event, which was organized by CASE on the 3th of June 2014, our experts presented results of the “NEUJOBS - Employment 2025: How will multiple transitions affect the European labour market” project, financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme.
The data show that human resources in healthcare are insufficient. Worse yet, they have significantly dwindled over the past two decades due to the outflow of medical staff to other sectors (chiefly to pharmaceutical companies), as well as demographical changes in this profession. Moreover, medical and care specialists very often decide to emigrate to other EU countries. This trend, which is particularly noticeable in case of doctors and nurses, is a direct result of unsuitable education schemes, low wages, and the lack of career opportunities. As a consequence, Poland is one of the countries with the lowest ratio of medical and care employment in the EU. According to the presented prognosis, demand for medical and care staff will be dynamically rising at least until 2025. The highest numbers are likely to be noted in LTC and ambulatory care. The policy towards aging in Poland must take up the challenge of growing care needs, family changes, and reduced opportunities for the provision of informal care.
As prof. Golinowska emphasized, Poland’s performance is particularly poor in terms of healthcare and LTC management. Insufficient funding and unclear regulations unquestionably are stumbling blocks to investment and efficient operations of LTC. Additionally, there are many problems with forecasting and planning, which stem from considerable shortages in analytical departments. The vague division of competencies between government and municipal authorities, as well as a lack of dialogue between incumbents and medical representatives, are other issues that need to be addressed – prof. Golinowska said.
