Page 4 - MOH Supply and Needs-Based Requirement Hyperlink 02032021

PREFACE

The ability of a country to meet its health goals depends mainly on the knowledge, skills,
motivation and deployment of the people responsible for organizing and delivering health
services. Human resource for health (HRH) is vital in providing essential health interventions
to the population. Limited capacity to produce health worker, failure to mitigate the
migration of health workers, poor skill-mix and demographic imbalances will influence
delivering quality and equitable health services to the nation. In HRH planning, there is a
need for comprehensive, reliable and timely information on human resource for health,
including numbers, demographic distribution, skills, services being provided and factors
influencing recruitment and retention. Workforce planning has often been described as
ensuring “the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time”. An
effective workforce planning is a challenge in healthcare due to a complex mix of staff and
staff functions, the geographic area that is covered and the changing policies that influence
the supply and requirements of care. Population size, gender, age and their health status are
among fundamental factors influencing the requirement of HRH workforce.

With the existing workforce, Malaysia has achieved tremendous improvement in health
status over the years, further gaining recognition from international health agencies.
However, we are continuously striving to improve our benchmarks to be par with other
developed countries. Despite that, new HRH graduates in Malaysia are experiencing delayed
employment in their respective fields due to a few reasons. Besides the effect on health care
services, delays in the hiring of the new graduates can lead to migration of the graduates
to other countries, loss of skill and even loss of interest in the respective fields. Therefore,
evidence on supply and requirement of HRH has become a necessity to guide policymakers
to formulate solutions to overcome these emerging issues.

This report presents the results of a study using Needs-based approach to forecast the
supply and requirements for the period 2016 - 2030 of five selected HRH categories namely
doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and Assistant Medical Officers (AMO) for Malaysia.
Indeed, the study which was conducted from September 2014 to 2016 requires a systematic
process to translate and illustrate the complexity of health care delivery in Malaysia into
System Dynamics (SD) simulation modelling. In the study, the various scenario analysis
was simulated to predict future HRH supply and requirement based on changes made on
specific parameters.

The detailed report of the study is available and can be accessed through the Ministry
of Health portal by request from the Planning Division. We aim that the findings of this
report will facilitate and guide policymakers and relevant stakeholders to come out with
appropriate policies. Through a clear policy direction, efficient management, sufficient
resources including competent and skilled health workforce, it can be foreseen that the
Malaysia population will continue to have a better health outcome. A healthier population
will result in the improvement of the nation’s productivity.

Lastly, we would like to congratulate the researchers and all participating stakeholders
involved in this study. This study is a collaboration between Ministry of Health and
academician from local universities namely Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti
Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTEM) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), with the involvement
of other agencies in providing primary and secondary data. This study was made possible
through a research grant funded by the Institute of Health System Research (IHSR), led and
managed together with the Health Policy and Planning Section, Planning Division, MOH.

Planning Division
Ministry of Health Malaysia

SUPPLY AND NEEDS-BASED REQUIREMENT PROJECTIONS OF MALAYSIAN HUMAN
RESOURCES FOR HEALTH USING SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH 2016 - 2030