The Resilience Commission was established in the summer of 2022. The political aim was for the commission to provide recommendations for addressing the fundamental challenges in the Danish healthcare system and the care for older people, ensuring trained and competent personnel throughout the country. The commission was asked to tackle the longer-term challenges, considering the increasing older population and the expectation of a rise in chronic diseases and mental health disorders.
The commission’s main task has been to propose initiatives that can ensure more personnel in the future while also ensuring that personnel have more time to focus on core tasks related to citizens and patients. Initiatives include improving the organization of education, facilitating a smoother transition from education to the workforce, strengthening connections to the workplace, and promoting a more flexible and interdisciplinary approach to tasks. The commission has also focused on initiatives such as prioritization, smarter task-solving, and better utilization of technologies. It is hoped that these will provide staff with more time and space to fulfil their core responsibilities.
The 20 recommendations that the Commission proposed were:
Stronger prioritization and smarter task solution
1. A National Prioritization Council should release resources for core tasks.
2. Reducing inappropriate treatment through stronger professional prioritization.
3. Prioritization should be strengthened through shared decision-making, differentiated offerings, and increased self-care.
4. Inefficient documentation should be reduced.
5. Competencies should be utilized across regions and sectors.
6. A common principle of “digital and technological first” should be introduced.
7. Better frameworks for the rapid implementation of documented labour-saving technology should be ensured.
8. Digital competencies and technological understanding should be strengthened.
Attractive workplaces and time for core tasks
9. Leadership should be prioritized, and leadership quality should be strengthened.
10. More people should work full-time.
11. Night shifts should be reduced and shared among more employees.
12. Positions and career paths should be anchored in patient- and citizen-centred work.
13. The potential of later retirement from the workforce should be realized.
14. Competencies from abroad should be better utilized through strengthened integration.
15. More and better introductory programs for newly graduated individuals.
Right competencies and professional flexibility
16. There should be more coherence and greater flexibility across healthcare education programs.
17. Postgraduate and continuing education programs should be reformed to align career paths with practical experience.
18. Professional silos should be broken down, and more individuals should contribute.
19. The connection between education and job should be strengthened to avoid practice and responsibility shocks.
20. More strategic and long-term management of the supply of healthcare education should be ensured.