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IMPACT: To meet the future fitness of a changing public service, local government practitioners and public managers can advance more values-based approaches that are responsive to workforce planning needs and more accessible to the communities that they serve. First, co-designing human-centric public services with users to target genuine areas of need. Second, promoting good governance to embrace partnership and spread public service financial risk in finding sustainable solutions to real world complex challenges. Third, leveraging data-driven technologies that informs public service decision-making on areas of performance and improvement. Fourth, investing in training and lifelong learning to promote continuous professional development and building capacity to equip public workers with the skills for innovation is crucial. Finally, to attract gender equality, diversity and inclusion in public service recruitment strategies a more balanced approach to conflicting 'care' and 'control' practices. The authors reflect on their combined dialogues of public service innovation with local political leaders and combined authorities as a useful tool for policy-makers and practitioners in delivering a future fit-for-purpose public service. They consider this through a consideration of 'How should we recruit and retain a public service fit for purpose and what will it look like?' This thought-provoking question, initially posed in 'Public Money & Management' by Massey (2023), highlights a fast-moving and unpredictable public service landscape which is under threat from persistent financial under-investment and exposed to alarming and complex 21st-century global social, economic, political and environmental challenges. This new development article contributes to ongoing academic and policy debates on the importance of public service innovation and recruitment to advance so-called 'inclusive societies' (OECD, 2015). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Quantitative methods for estimating the workload of primary healthcare (PHC) workers are essential for improving the performance of PHC institutions. However, measuring the workload of PHC workers is challenging due to the diverse and complex range of services covered by PHC. This study aims to use an equivalent value (EV)-based approach to assess the workload of PHC workers and inform policymakers about the current workload burden in Beijing, China. Methods: The EV-based workload assessment system was designed by three main steps: identifying the list of essential PHC service items provided by PHC workers, quantifying the EV of each service item, and calculating the corresponding workload for PHC workers and community health centers (CHCs). The study included 18 CHCs, which were divided into three groups based on population density and topography: Group I (eight urban CHCs), Group II (six CHCs in semi-mountainous areas), and Group III (four CHCs in mountainous areas). Data were collected from local health information system, which automatically collected real-time service volume data for 500 PHC service items at 18 CHCs in the sample district in Beijing from 2017 to 2021. Results: This study identified 503 essential PHC service items and defined their EVs. The theoretical full-capacity workload per PHC worker was 6024 EVs, serving as the base workload. The actual annual workload per PHC worker was 7240.0 EVs during 2017–2021. The base workload per budgeted position for the three types of CHCs was 6468.6 EVs for Group I, 5268.5 EVs for Group II, and 5038.7 EVs for Group III. Compared with the actual workload of 7702.3 EVs, 6568.3 EVs, and 5979.0 EVs in each group, respectively, all PHC workers in the sample district were overburdened during the study period. Conclusions: The EV-based method provides a feasible solution for comprehensively assessing the workload of publicly funded PHC institutions in other regions. This study offers valuable insights to help local policymakers understand the workload burden of PHC workers, objectively evaluate their performance, and guide future health workforce planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa faces both under- and over-nutrition, highlighting the need for prioritizing nutrition services. Registered dietitians are crucial for delivering appropriate and quality nutrition services. Consequently, this case study employs the World Health Organization evidence-based Workload Indicators of Staffing Need to ascertain the requisite dietetic workforce needed at central and tertiary public hospitals in South Africa. Head dietitians from 21 of 22 central and tertiary public hospitals participated in an online survey to provide data and consensus on workload components and activity standards via Delphi technique. Data were analyzed using the World Health Organisation Workload Indicators of Staffing Need software. Dietetic staffing needs were determined based on the difference between existing and required numbers of dietitians. WISN ratio was used as a metric to gauge dietitians' workload pressure. Majority (95%) of hospitals experienced dietetic staff shortages and few (14%) had requisite staff to cover basic health services. Majority (76%) exhibited a WISN ratio below 0.5, indicating fullfilment of less than 50% of staff requirements. Based on the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need, dietitians in South African central and tertiary public hospitals experience high workload pressures due to extreme understaffing. The results can guide future profession workforce planning to facilitate enhanced nutrition outcomes in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why you should read this article: » To understand the barriers to recruitment and retention in forensic mental health inpatient services » To learn how practice development can enhance the experiences of students and newly registered nurses » To find out more about how to offer effective preceptorship support to newly registered nurses. Recruitment and retention are pressing challenges in mental health nursing and there are specific barriers to recruitment and retention in forensic inpatient services. One inpatient forensic service in England sought to address these challenges through a preceptorship support project using practice development to engage with mental health nursing students and newly registered mental health nurses. Since the start of the project, 24 newly registered nurses have joined the service and a further 9 joined it in September 2024. Although it is not possible to determine a direct causal relationship, it would appear that the project has enhanced recruitment and retention. Mental health services experiencing recruitment and retention challenges could use a similar method to understand and address the barriers to working in their setting experienced by nursing students and newly registered nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A shift system implementation is usually required in scheduling security services which also causes important managerial challenges due to the necessity of the 7 days-24 hours continuous nature of the corresponding services. In the construction of a shift schedule, it is also necessary to consider some criteria about the humanitarian issues, such as the equality of not only the number of workdays but also the number of shifts for each person as well as the ones imposed by the corresponding labor law legislation usually about the maximum number of workdays and shift transitions. Construction of an ideal schedule for security services under the aforementioned constraints is thus a challenging task, especially for the large-sized real-life problems due to the increases in both the number of people and the length of the planning horizon. An idea to deal with the curse of dimensionality in the shiftscheduling problem is dividing a planning horizon into shorter periods, which might reduce problem size significantly; however, it also requires a flexible approach for relating the solutions of the consecutive periods. Such a flexible approach for relating the corresponding schedules of the consecutive periods is proposed in this study where we propose an integer-goal programming formulation that efficiently handles the issue. We also illustrate its performance on a real-life problem involving the construction of the monthly schedules in a year for a security team of a hundred people. It is noted from the computational experiments that the proposed formulation is able to construct the corresponding monthly schedules in a few minutes, implying its potential for use real-life shift scheduling problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to highlight the crucial role of strategic human resource management and leadership in preparing workforces for the artificial intelligence (AI) and automation age. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a conceptual approach, reviewing existing literature, drawing insights from industry experts, and real-world examples to develop a framework for preparing and sustaining workforces for the AI era. Findings: The paper finds that successfully integrating AI and automation in the workforce requires a proactive and strategic approach from HR leaders, emphasising the critical importance of aligning AI and automation strategies with overall business goals through strategic workforce planning. Developing an AI-literate and adaptable workforce is crucial for embracing AI-driven changes, necessitating the creation of new AI-centric roles and career pathways, innovative job models, and comprehensive upskilling programs. HR must act as a translator between humans and machines, fostering seamless collaboration, addressing cultural and ethical implications, and leading the charge. Research limitations/implications: The paper relies primarily on conceptual arguments and anecdotal evidence from industry experts. Practical implications: The paper provides actionable insights for HR leaders to foster sustainable AI transitions within workforces. Social implications: The paper highlights the potential social implications such as job displacement concerns and the need for reskilling and upskilling initiatives. It emphasises the importance of proactively addressing these concerns through clear communication, job security measures, and learning and development opportunities. Originality/value: The paper offers a fresh perspective on the role of HR in the AI era, positioning HR leaders as strategic enablers of sustainable human-machine collaboration. It synthesises insights from various sources to provide a comprehensive framework for workforce preparation, emphasising the importance of aligning AI adoption with workforce development initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Trauma and Orthopaedic (T&O) surgery has come under scrutiny for lagging behind other medical specialties in promoting gender and cultural equity and diversity within their workforce. The proportions of female, ethnic minority, and sexual and gender minority individuals within orthopaedic membership bodies are disproportionate to the populations they serve. The aim of this study is to report the findings of a national workforce survey of demographics and working patterns within T&O in Scotland. Methods: A questionnaire devised by a working group was delivered by the Client Analyst and Relationship Development (CARD) group. Utilizing a secure third party ensured anonymity for all respondents. Data were recorded and analyzed by the CARD group. Results: A total of 353 responses were recorded, representing 71% of the known workforce. Overall, 261 respondents (74%) identified as male, 85 (24%) female, and seven (2%) preferred not to say. For specialist trainee (ST)3 to ST6, 148 (42%) were female, and for ST7 to ST8, 131 (37%) were female. In total, 226 of all respondents (64%) were white-British, 35 (10%) were white-European, and 92 (26%) were of an ethnic minority background. A total of 321 of respondents (91%) identified as heterosexual, 14 (4%) preferred not to say, and 18 (5%) identified as LGBTQ+ or preferred to self-describe. Conclusion: This is the largest national workforce survey in contemporary surgical literature. The findings demonstrate a greater proportion of female surgeons overall compared to other studies in T&O. This proportion of females was highest among more junior trainees. The Scottish T&O workforce is more ethnically diverse than the demographics of the population it serves. This study suggests that T&O in Scotland is an evolving speciality in terms of equality and diversity, and is making positive progress. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2025;6(1):103–108.

Physician databases constitute an essential component of health workforce planning. However, while some countries have established functioning national physician databases, others have failed to do so. We compared the healthcare systems of two technologically and economically developed countries, Canada and Israel, which represent cases of respective success and failure in establishing physician databases. A comparative analysis was conducted using a historical-institutionalist approach to examine contemporary health policy outcomes. White papers, studies on healthcare human resources, and reports by professional committees were examined to explore the aims, interests, positions, and actions of stakeholders. In Canada, state-medical profession cooperation, deep-rooted in a longstanding regulatory bargain between the two parties, has facilitated the creation and management of physician databases, albeit limited and in need of urgent improvement, on national and jurisdictional levels. The lack of such regulatory arrangement coupled with enduring conflicted relations between stakeholders due to particular historical developments have hindered the development of an Israeli equivalent database so far. Finally, health policy outcomes may be explained against the backdrop of broader political, governance, and organisational contexts. How medical organisations respond to governmental healthcare initiatives is heavily influenced by their institutional position vis-à-vis the state, shaped by historical processes and regulatory arrangements.