Career framework for the health workforce launched

Health Minister Pete Hodgson today launched a career framework to help develop a flexible health workforce equipped to meet changing health needs and increased demand for services in the future.

“I commend the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards Collaborative Workforce Programme for working together with key health groups in the past year to craft this framework - but this is just the beginning,” Mr Hodgson said.

“The next significant task is to develop, by June 2008, an action plan which outlines specific initiatives and the resources needed to implement the framework in the first two years.”

The framework describes specific career pathways for different occupations and scopes of practice while recognising similarities and differences between roles within and across workforce groups. It can be used in marketing health careers, and in workforce planning.

"Recruiting and retaining health workers is a global concern," Mr Hodgson said. "The World Health Organisation estimates a global shortage of four million health workers. In New Zealand, estimates are we could face shortages of 40,000 to 70,000 health and disability workers in the next two decades."

"Apart from any shortfall in numbers, our health workforce will also face new challenges, including a greater incidence of chronic illness and our changing ethnic make-up. Growing consumer choices and technological developments are also expected to have an impact on the way health services are provided.”

"These and other factors all contributed to our resolution to come up with a career framework which will help attract and keep the health workers we are clearly going to need," Mr Hodgson explained.

Although the career framework presently covers only the health sector workforce, officials hope further discussion with the disability sector will lead to an integrated career framework covering the disability workforce as well.

The Ministry of Health and district health boards will be working closely with training institutions, regulatory authorities and health unions to implement the framework.


ENDS