Skill-mix in the health workforce

Skill-mix in the health workforce

The health workforce is indispensable for the delivery of healthcare. A comprehensive well-trained health workforce is a precondition for achieving health systems objectives. But what are the persons and professions that form the health workforce? All too often, we just think of doctors and nurses and maybe pharmacists. Ye the variety of persons and professions involved is often enormous, and all play a part in contributing to the achievement of better health. Some of these include:

  • Citizens and patients as co-producers of their health;
  • Informal carers, looking after family member, friends and neighbours; 
  • Long-term care nurses providing services both in nursing homes but also at the elderly person’s home;
  • Health professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and many others providing services in ambulatory and hospital settings;
  • Public-health professionals with a specialization in public health, health policy-makers, epidemiologists, environmental health experts, health economists, health promotion specialists, employees at local health, agencies;
  • Professionals with awareness of health and public health issues like police, architects, urban planners, teachers, welfare workers.

The European Observatory’s work programme deals with the entire spectrum of the health workforce across different settings, always seeking to focus attention on particular aspects (such as skill-mix) or challenges as the health workforce develops to respond to needs.

Related publications

How can skill-mix innovations support the implementation of integrated care for people with chronic conditions and multimorbidity?

The increasing and changing demands of complex patients (with chronic conditions and multimorbidity), combined with growing workloads and shortages...

What are skill-mix innovations in the health workforce and why are they relevant? This systemic analysis of health workforce skill-mix innovations provides...

How can structured cooperation between countries address health workforce challenges related to highly specialized health care?: improving access to services through voluntary cooperation in the EU

This policy brief draws on the experience of different cross-border collaborations in highly specialized health care in order to address health workforce...

How can countries address the efficiency and equity implications of health professional mobility in Europe?

The health workforce is a key contributor to health system performance. Shortages, maldistribution and skill-mismatches of health professionals can have...

Addressing needs in the public health workforce in Europe

Health systems in Europe face a number of increasingly complex challenges. Globalization, evolving health threats, an ageing society, financial constraints...

Health professional mobility in a changing Europe: new dynamics, mobile individuals and diverse responses

Health professional mobility in Europe has become a fast-moving target for policy-makers. It is evolving rapidly in direction and magnitude as a consequence...

Health professional mobility and health systems: evidence from 17 European countries

The mobility of health professionals affects the performance of health systems, and increasingly so since the European Union (‎EU)‎ enlargements...

Assessing future health workforce needs

Many countries face difficulties in adequately deploying the health workforce and the mobility of health personnel between countries in Europe makes planning...

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign Up