Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first global guidance on health practitioner regulation.
Health practitioner regulation: Design, reform and implementation guidance reviews the available evidence and offers policy considerations for designing regulatory systems that protect the public and support national health system goals. It provides practical steps to assess and minimize the gap between regulatory policy and practice that may arise in different contexts. It also offers insights into future strategic directions for research to better link regulation to evidence on health outcomes.
Beyond its established role in ensuring patient safety and ethical practice, the evidence also highlights how health practitioner regulation can generate added value within health systems, including health professions education, equitable distribution, workforce planning and the financial costs associated with health services.
“WHO’s latest guidance comes at a time when the landscape of health and care services is expanding alongside rising public expectations from health workers and regulators. I’m particularly struck by the compelling evidence of the added value regulation and regulators can bring to health systems and health workforce development. Implementing this evidence at scale will generate immediate benefits and I wish to acknowledge the excellent work of the health experts, scientists, regulators and WHO staff who have contributed to this global public good,” said Jim Campbell, Director, Health Workforce.
A robust health workforce is fundamental to deliver the full range of essential health services and the essential public health functions. Achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals requires not only the quantitative global growth in health worker employment that has been achieved in recent years, but also addressing persistent challenges like matching demand with supply, creating the right skill mix and strengthening quality and equitable distribution.
The guidance builds on the WHO Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health 2016.