Health workforce strategy in Latvia

The Commission supported the Latvian Ministry of Health in developing key inputs for a human resources strategy for the health sector (Health workforce strategy in Latvia). The expected outcome of the project was that Latvian authorities have adopted a comprehensive health workforce strategy, which includes models for lifelong learning and for health workforce planning.

Context

The Latvian healthcare system that has been suffering from a shortage of health professionals. This places a considerable strain on the system which has recently undergone several reforms and is moving to a more patient-centered provision of care with new competency and skill requirements for all involved health professionals. To address these issues, the Latvian Recovery and Resilience Plan foresaw several actions, including the adoption of a planning model, resource mapping and the development strategy for the health workforce. The project helped to provide inputs for these activities, as well as to build the capacity of the Ministry of Health.

Support delivered

The support was delivered in collaboration with Ernst & Young. The outputs of the project included a comprehensive analysis of the health workforce and training system, technical specifications for an integrated database on health professionals, a workforce planning model and projections, as well as a proposal for an action plan on health workforce training and skills development, including the use of simulation trainings. The project started in 2021 and lasted until 2023.

Results achieved

All Deliverables were completed, and a concise roadmap for future actions by the Latvian authorities to follow-up on the outputs of the project was provided. The capacity of the Ministry of Health to use and further develop the health workforce planning model was enhanced. Technical specifications for an integrated database on health professionals were provided, allowing the Ministry to take the next steps to initiate the procurement procedure. The expected impact of the project is that the Latvian health workforce is at pace with the evolving need and the innovative ways of healthcare delivery.

More about the project

You can read the documents related to the project here: