Healthcare Workforce Strategic Group Holds First Meeting

The Minister for Health, Care and Business, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez MP, is pleased to announce that the newly established Healthcare Workforce Strategic Group met for the first time today, Tuesday 13th October.

The Group has been set up to provide a coordinated, cross-sector approach to healthcare workforce planning in Gibraltar. It has been established in recognition of the significant number of students currently undertaking healthcare-related studies who are expected to qualify and return to Gibraltar over the coming years. Its establishment is in line with the Government’s policy of developing and retaining a locally trained health and care workforce.

The Group is chaired by the Director of Workforce (Ag) at the Gibraltar Health Authority and brings together senior representatives from the Ministry for Health, Care and Business, the Department of Employment, the Department of Education, the Gibraltar Health Authority, the University of Gibraltar and the Care Agency. Other departments, professional bodies, healthcare providers and specialists may be invited to contribute where their expertise would assist the Group’s work.

Its remit covers nursing and midwifery, the allied health professions, pharmacy, medicine and other clinical professions, healthcare support roles, social care and emerging specialist requirements.

The Group will map the pipeline of students and graduates, identify current and anticipated vacancies, and coordinate clinical placements, internships, graduate programmes and structured transition-to-practice opportunities. It will also identify any gaps between the professionals expected to qualify and the needs of Gibraltar’s health and care services, and recommend measures to support recruitment, retention and career progression.

At its first meeting, the Group considered its Terms of Reference and the programme of work for its initial phase. This will include an assessment of the anticipated graduate pipeline over the next two to five years, projected workforce requirements across the relevant professions, and the employment and placement capacity available locally.

The Group will report to the Minister on its findings and recommendations and will thereafter produce an annual healthcare workforce plan or strategic workforce update. It will meet at least quarterly.

The Minister for Health, Care and Business, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez MP, said:

“A significant number of our young people are training as nurses, midwives, pharmacists, doctors and allied health professionals. They are an enormous asset to our community, and we owe it to them, and to our patients, to plan properly for their return. This Group will give us a clear picture of who is coming home, when, and with what skills, and make sure there is a genuine route into meaningful work and a lasting career in our health and care services when they do. Building a strong, locally trained workforce is one of the most practical steps we can take towards services that are sustainable for the long term. I am grateful to every organisation around the table for its commitment, and I look forward to receiving the Group’s initial recommendations.”