Achieving Excellence in the Supply Chain Workforce:The People that Deliver

Global Partnership

Human Resources for Health and Health Supply ChainsCurrent State of Affairs

Rebecca J. Bailey, Health Workforce Development Team Lead, CapacityPlus

26 July 2012, IAC Satellite on Achieving Excellence in the Supply Chain Workforce

Supply chains and health

• Every year over 10-billion US dollars are spent by development partners procuring health commodities for low- and middle-income countries.

• Resulting in huge increases in the quantity, value and complexity of medicines and commodities flowing through public health supply chains.

• Still over 1.7 billion people – nearly one-third of the world’s population – lack access to essential medicines (WHO, 2004)

Source: WHO, 2012

The role of the workforce

A well planned, financed, developed, recognized, supported and empowered supply chain workforce is essential for achieving national and global health goals, including the Millennium Development Goals for improving maternal health, reducing child mortality, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Source: WHO/IVB, May 2012, NUVI Meeting, Marrakech

The functions of the SCM workforce

Achieving workforce excellence

The HRH Action Framework The Working Lifespan Approach

Source: GHWA, WHO, USAID, and partners, 2005http://www.capacityproject.org/framework/

Source: WHO, 2006

Workforce information and governanceThe World Health Report 2006, “Working together for health”

• Highlighted the “health workforce crisis”, with a global shortage of 4.3 million health workers, and the urgent need for a competent, recognized, and empowered workforce.

• Documented insufficient numbers of “support workers”

However….

• HRH information systems rarely collect data specifically on the supply chain workforce

• Supply chain workers are rarely considered a “professional” cadre by Ministries of Health.

Workforce planning and financing

• Limited focus on planning and financing of the supply chain workforce

• Few national Human Resources for Health (HRH) development strategies and plans include plans for the supply chain workforce. At the same time Human Resources are seldom addressed in national supply chain plans.

• Many countries outsource key functions, such as transportation, to private organizations.

Workforce development and quality assurance

• Need for more appropriate pre-service education and in-service training

o Dedicated supply chain professionalso Incorporation of core supply chain management

competencies into pre-service curricula of clinical and non-clinical workers

• Need for recognized qualifications and certification appropriate for supply chain management.

• Need to train the right people Minister of Health  – “When you use a nurse or a physician as a logistician, you lose the nurse or physician and you don't get a good logistician!” 

Workforce management, recognition and performance

• Supply Chain Management is not recognized as a “Profession”

• Few countries have professional associations, such as an association of supply chain managers or logisticians.

• Job descriptions do not clearly specify supply chain management tasks

• High turnover of staff, poor performanceo limited supervision/contact with supervisorso poor pay and working conditionso heavy workloads

• Limited continuing professional development and career pathways

What are governments doing?

We will hear from some today, such as:

• Taking action to improve the planning, development, recognition and support of the supply chain workforce, such as including plans for the Supply Chain Management workforce within their larger HRH plans.

• Creating special Supply Chain Management units within their Ministries of Health to improve governance, planning, financing, development and management.

• Outsourcing certain functions, such as transportation.

• Training and deploying supply chain managers at district level

Conclusions

Health supply chains are people supply chains and depend not only on financial and technical inputs but

also on competent, recognized and empowered individuals.

Thank you!