New Publication Spotlight: Applying the HRH Action Framework to Develop Sustainable Excellence in the Health Supply Chain Workforce

It takes a health worker to provide lifesaving care to communities in need. And just as all people deserve access to skilled health workers, so too do they need access to the right medicines at the right time. A new CapacityPlus technical brief provides guidance to strengthen the crucial link between the health worker and patient—the supply chain worker—so that medicines and other health commodities reach the people who need them.

Technical Brief 12Effective supply chains depend on competent and empowered individuals. These include pharmacists, logisticians, supply chain managers, data managers, and warehouse and transport personnel. The supply chain workforce also includes key personnel who contribute a portion of their time to supply chain functions, such as doctors, nurses, and other clinical and administrative staff.

In Applying the HRH Action Framework to Develop Sustainable Excellence in the Health Supply Chain Workforce, authors Richard Seifman and Rebecca Bailey of IntraHealth International and Erin Hasselberg of Partnership for Supply Chain Management aim to create a bridge between the related fields of supply chain management and human resources for health (HRH). They describe how the HRH Action Framework can be applied to strengthen the supply chain workforce, drawing on lessons learned and successes from applications in the health sector.

The HRH Action Framework depicts an approach for planning, developing, and managing the health workforce. For each of the framework’s six action fields, the authors identify an achievable activity to advance the process of strengthening the health supply chain workforce:

“Millions of people around the world still lack regular access to essential medicines,” Bailey says. “It takes a motivated and skilled supply chain workforce to ensure that medicines and health commodities reach all levels of health facilities, even the most remote, and provide the critical resources needed for providers to deliver quality services and save lives.” Seifman adds, “If the health needs of mothers, newborns, and children are to be adequately addressed across the continuum of care, supply chain management skills are needed from the community facility level up to the hospital and central medical stores.”

To learn more, read the new publication, available as a PDF and an interactive online version. And please let us know what you think; we welcome your feedback.

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