Innovating mechanisms to attract high-quality human resources for the health sector

For many years, Quang Ninh has always been a pioneer in innovating the medical model and taking care of people's health. However, the shortage of doctors, especially at the grassroots level, remains a difficult problem, posing an urgent need for synchronous and long-term solutions to build a team of doctors with sufficient quantity and strong quality, meeting the development requirements in the new period.

Currently, the shortage of doctors is not only a story of difficult areas but has spread across the country, directly affecting the quality of health care for the people. In Quang Ninh, although the health sector has developed strongly, many hospitals have mastered central-level technology, but the medical staff is still lacking and there is an imbalance between the levels.

Doctor of Internal Intensive Care Department, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi Hospital, treating a patient. Photo: Nguyen Hoa

According to the provincial Department of Health, the province has nearly 2,000 doctors working at 24 medical facilities with the function of examining and treating patients. However, from 2020 to now, 290 doctors have quit or transferred jobs, 126 people have retired, most of them are doctors with advanced medical qualifications. On average, each year, the province only recruits about 84 more doctors, while the actual demand is much greater.

According to the Resolution of the 16th Provincial Party Congress, by 2030, Quang Ninh strives to have 19 doctors per 10,000 people (equivalent to more than 3,000 doctors). Meanwhile, this ratio is currently only 17.4/10,000 people. Notably, more than half of the doctors are concentrated at the provincial level, while the grassroots level, where people first access medical services, is seriously lacking, with more than 140 commune health stations without regular doctors.

The human resource structure between the levels is also not uniform. Provincial hospitals such as Bai Chay, Vietnam - Sweden Uong Bi or Provincial General Hospital have mastered more than 50% of the technical list of the central level, the referral rate is only 0.86%. Meanwhile, the district and grassroots levels still face many difficulties in implementing specialized techniques, the referral rate is still over 3%.

To solve the human resource problem, on December 8, 2023, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution No. 28/2023/NQ-HDND on the policy of attracting doctors to work at public health facilities until 2025. This is a policy that clearly demonstrates the province's vision and determination in strengthening medical human resources, especially for remote, isolated and island areas. The goal is to attract 298 doctors, including highly qualified doctors, to work at 11 medical units in the province.

After more than 18 months of implementation, the policy has initially recorded positive signals when it has attracted 65 doctors (reaching 21.8%), including 7 doctors working at commune health stations. Although the set target has not been achieved, this result shows a clear change in awareness, action and determination of all levels and sectors in caring for health human resources.

However, according to the report of the Department of Health, the implementation of Resolution 28 also shows that there are still many problems that need to be resolved. The procedures for recruiting and receiving new doctors are still prolonged, making the attraction process untimely. Although the level of financial support has been adjusted, it is still not competitive enough with the private health sector. The accompanying support policies - such as housing, specialized training, living conditions for doctors' families - have not really created attraction. In some remote areas, facilities, equipment and working environment are still difficult, affecting the long-term commitment of young doctors.

At the 16th Provincial Party Congress, Quang Ninh set quite high targets for health care, including: Achieving 68 hospital beds/10,000 people (including 65 public beds/10,000 people and 3 private beds/10,000 people); 19 doctors/10,000 people; 8 university pharmacists/10,000 people; 33 nurses/10,000 people; 100% of the population participating in health insurance. To successfully implement the Resolution, moving into the 2026-2030 period, the Quang Ninh health sector has identified the key goal of both attracting and developing local human resources. In addition to continuing to implement Resolution 28 with appropriate adjustments, the province aims to develop a specific mechanism to attract doctors with postgraduate qualifications, resident doctors, and specialists II; strengthen training links with medical universities to open specialized training classes right in the locality; At the same time, focus on long-term support policies on housing, career development opportunities, jobs for relatives and learning conditions for children.

The allocation of human resources between levels will also be reviewed and adjusted appropriately, ensuring that 100% of health stations have doctors working regularly or part-time, gradually overcoming the gap between urban and disadvantaged areas. The highest goal is to ensure enough human resources to maximize the efficiency of investment in infrastructure and modern medical equipment, improve on-site medical examination and treatment capacity, and affirm the leading position of Quang Ninh health care in the region.

Recently, Quang Ninh has also completed the arrangement of the health system according to the 2-level local government model. Accordingly, the province merged Ha Long General Hospital into Quang Ninh Provincial General Hospital; merged the Mental Support Center into the Mental Health Protection Hospital into the Mental Health Hospital. Arranged 13 Health Centers into 5 regional general hospitals in Dong Trieu, Quang Yen, Van Don, Tien Yen and Mong Cai; at the same time merged 3 units: Social Work Center, Social Protection Center and Child Protection and Care Facility in Special Circumstances into Quang Ninh Social Assistance Center. The Lung Hospital under the Department of Health was organized on the basis of merging Ha Long Medical Center. The new health stations were organized into 55 health stations and 92 stations on the basis of rearranging 171 old health stations, of which 26 stations that were no longer suitable in terms of population size or location were stopped operating.

The streamlining of the healthcare system, along with increasingly professional treatment, training and working environment policies, will create a new step in the development of healthcare human resources. This is an important premise for Quang Ninh to continue to affirm its pioneering position in innovating the model of healthcare for the people.

Aquarius

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/doi-moi-co-che-thu-hut-nguon-nhan-luc-chat-luong-cao-cho-nganh-y-te-3382621.html