Implementation of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method in Determining Staff Requirements in Public Health Laboratories in Serbia

Tripković, Katica; Milićević, Milena Šantrić; Miladinović, M Mandić; Kovačević, Lazo; Bjegović-Mikanović, Vesna; Vukovic, Dejana

doi:10.1017/dmp.2020.133

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Inequitable distribution of medical laboratory technicians is more serious than of medical biochemists across all 13 observed laboratories, as nine laboratories are in deficit of laboratory technicians while five laboratories have a deficit of medical biochemists. This shortage is equally pronounced in Serbian public health laboratories as well [18], and in other countries, which have analysed the staffing needs of laboratory technicians [14][15][16][17].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the WISN method to assess the health workforce requirements for the high-volume clinical biochemical laboratories

Stanković

Milićević

2022

Hum Resour Health

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Background The clinical laboratory services, as an essential part of health care, require appropriate staff capacity to assure satisfaction and improve outcomes for both patients and clinical staff. This study aimed to apply the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method for estimating required laboratory staff requirements for the high-volume clinical biochemical laboratories. Methods In 2019, we applied the WISN method in all 13 laboratories within the Center for Medical Biochemistry of the University Clinical Centre of Serbia (CMB UCCS). A review of annual routinely collected statistics, laboratory processes observations, and structured interviews with lab staff helped identify their health service and additional activities and duration of these activities. The study outcomes were WISN-based staff requirements, WISN ratio and difference, and a recommendation on the new staffing standards for two priority laboratory workers (medical biochemists and medical laboratory technicians). Results Medical biochemists’ and laboratory technicians’ annual available working time in 2019 was 1508 and 1347 working hours, respectively, for the workload of 1,848,889 samples. In general, the staff has four health service, eight support, and 15 additional individual activities. Health service activities per sample can take from 1.2 to 12.6 min. Medical biochemists and medical laboratory technicians spend almost 70% and more than 80% of their available working time, undertaking health service activities. The WISN method revealed laboratory workforce shortages in the CMB (i.e. current 40 medical biochemists and 180 medical laboratory technicians as opposed to required 48 medical biochemists and 206 medical laboratory technicians). Workforce maldistribution regarding the laboratory workload contributes to a moderate–high workload pressure of medical biochemists in five and medical laboratory technicians in nine organizational units. Conclusions The WISN method showed mainly a laboratory workforce shortages and workload pressure in the CMB UCCS. WISN is a simple, easy-to-use method that can help decision-makers and policymakers prioritize the recruitment and equitable allocation of laboratory workers, optimize their utilization, and develop normative guidelines in the field of clinical laboratory diagnostics. WISN estimates require periodic reviews.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of the WISN method to assess the health workforce requirements for the high-volume clinical biochemical laboratories

Stanković

Milićević

2022

Hum Resour Health

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“…47,48 Sufficient capacity of qualified staff is needed to manage rapidly increasing numbers of infected patients. To avoid amplification of the negative features of the public healthcare sector of Serbia, such as inequitable distribution of health workers, [52][53][54] job dissatisfaction and the intention to leave, 52,55 healthcare stakeholders should be able to make decisions based on evidence generated with the specific tools and techniques for estimating workforce requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, developed by the WHO. In dealing with COVID-19 frontline health workers, operating in complex and challenging work environments negatively influences their job satisfaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health workforce management in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic: A survey of physicians in Serbia

Dinić¹,

Milićević

Mandić‐Rajčević

et al. 2021

Health Planning & Management

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Background & Aim:The study describes the experiences and opinions of Serbian physicians regarding workforce management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials & Methods: A total of 1553 licensed physicians (65% males; average age 44.0 years) responded to an online survey in September 2020. Differences in the respondents' general data and attitudes regarding workforce management and outbreak preparedness in Serbia were analysed in relation to their engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pearson χ2 and the independent samples t-test, p < 0.05). The logistic regression model explained the need for changing health workforce management. Results:The results reveal that the physicians engaged in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 (64.4% of the respondents) more often than their counterparts, were clinicians from the public sector, younger, with less work experience, influenced negatively by the pandemic, and reassigned to other positions (p < 0.001). Health workers dissatisfied with workplace preparedness and those reassigned due to COVID-19 were by 2.61 times and 1.38 times, respectively, more likely than their counterparts to consider changes in health workforce management.

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“…While WISN assists with determining the ideal number of human resource needs, availability of funds for implementation of calculated human resource needs rendered the process futile in the context of South Africa. Over the years, a significant number of countries in the WHO African region and WHO SEARO regions have reported their experiences on using WISN with seemingly little uptake or reporting from Latin America [ 1 , 2 , 7 , 17 , 34 , 51 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. However, the next steps after the implementation of WISN are not yet evident in these countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lessons Learnt during the Implementation of WISN for Comprehensive Primary Health Care in India, South Africa and Peru

Mabunda

Gupta

Chitha

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Introduction: The World Health Organization introduced the workload indicators of staffing needs (WISN) in 1998 to improve country-level health workforce planning. This study presents the primary care health workforce planning experiences of India, South Africa and Peru. Methods: A case study approach was used to explore the lessons learnt in the implementation of WISN in India and South Africa. It also describes the methods developed and implemented to estimate health workforce in Peru. We identify the barriers and facilitators faced by countries during the implementation phase through the triangulation of literature, government reports and accounts of involved health planners in the three countries. Results: India implemented WISN in a referral pathway of three district health facilities, including a primary health centre, community health centre and district hospital. Implementation was impeded by limited technical support, poor stakeholder consultation and information systems challenges. South Africa implemented WISN for health workforce planning in primary care and found the skills mix and staff determinations to be unaffordable. The Peruvian Ministry of Health considered using WISN but decided to develop a context-specific tool to estimate the health workforce needed using its available resources such as the National Register of Health Personnel. The main challenge in using WISN was the insufficient information on its inputs. Conclusion: While India and South Africa had unique experiences with the integration of WISN in their health system, none of the countries has yet benefited from the implementation of WISN due to financial, infrastructure and technical challenges. Since the methodology developed by the Peruvian Ministry of Health is context-specific, its implementation has been promising for health workforce planning. The learnings from these countries’ experiences will prove useful in bringing future changes for the health workforce.

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Implementation of the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method in Determining Staff Requirements in Public Health Laboratories in Serbia

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

Use of the WISN method to assess the health workforce requirements for the high-volume clinical biochemical laboratories

Use of the WISN method to assess the health workforce requirements for the high-volume clinical biochemical laboratories

Health workforce management in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic: A survey of physicians in Serbia

Lessons Learnt during the Implementation of WISN for Comprehensive Primary Health Care in India, South Africa and Peru

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