n line with WHO/Europe’s recommendations, Malta has launched its first-ever national health workforce strategy, an ambitious plan to tackle the shortage of health workers while addressing gaps in their training, retention and professional development.
Nearly 7% of all health workers in Malta – and more than 11% of nurses – come from another country. The strategy therefore places an emphasis on the training of nurses, including in Maltese language skills, and the recruitment of cultural mediators to coach foreign workers.
WHO/Europe’s newly launched flagship report, “Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act” lists 10 clear actions for countries to upscale their support to, and investment in, their health workforce. The actions highlight the importance of having a national strategy such as the one just launched by Malta.
“Our recommendations also include the development of proper capacity for planning and managing the health workforce and for building robust health information systems. The good news is that Malta is already implementing all of these and more,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, WHO/Europe’s Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems and head of the department that oversaw the production of the report.
“One of our key findings in the report is the rapid ageing of health workers in many countries across the WHO European Region, but this is less severe in Malta than elsewhere. While in most countries, 40% of medical doctors will retire in 10 years or so, in Malta, only a little over 17% of doctors are older than 55.”
Health workers struggling with mental health
Another important finding in WHO/Europe’s report is the increased mental and emotional stress suffered by health workers, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Higher infection rates and deaths among frontline workers, coupled with long working hours and few chances for rest and recuperation, have pushed many health workers to the brink of burnout – with far too many opting to leave the profession altogether.
