Department of Health & Human Services Victoria: Leveraging Data to Address Gaps Between the Workforce of Today and the Needs of Tomorrow

While many areas of the economy have undergone micro-economic reform and significant workforce changes in the past 30 years, the health sector has been slow to respond. Many structural elements reflect the practices of a bygone era. The objective in care should be the provision of right care – right place – right time, focusing on the needs of the consumer, rather than professional or institutional structures.

Changes to the health workforce structure, improved work practices, multiskilling, enhanced teamwork, and flexible training are among the key reforms required. Breaking down historic workforce boundaries and establishing new ways of working in inter-professional teams can capitalise on the range of skills and knowledge held by health practitioners.

Ahead of the Workforce Planning for Healthcare Summit 2019 we chat to Nigel Brand, Principle Policy Advisor, Workforce Strategy at the Department of Health & Human Services Victoria (DHHS), who shares the department’s workforce optimisation strategies.

In this article Nigel explores the challenges and trends shaping the future healthcare workforce, and shares with us how DHHS is leveraging data and predictive analytics to bridge capability gaps.