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Meeting of the Small Countries Initiative (SCI): /01 Human Resources for Health: accelerating trust 30 October 2023 and transformation Original: English 11 December 2023, Tallinn (Estonia) Time: 14:00 – 17:00 EEST Location: Joint Building of the Ministries (Suur- Ameerika 1, Tallinn) Provisional Agenda 1. Opening of the meeting 2. Stock-taking – progress on developing national HRH strategies or action plans 3. Addressing HRH challenges through digital innovation 4. Discussion 5. Next steps and closing 1 Meeting of the Small Countries Initiative (SCI): /02 Human Resources for Health: accelerating trust 30 October 2023 and transformation Original: English 11 December 2023, Tallinn (Estonia) Time: 14:00 – 17:00 EEST Location: Joint Building of the Ministries (Suur-Ameerika 1, Tallinn) Scope and purpose The SCI meeting is organised back-to-back to the Tallinn Charter “Health Systems for Health and Wealth” 15th anniversary conference taking place 12-13 December 2023 in Tallinn. The Tallinn charter conference programme focuses on trust and transformation as key enablers to strengthen the resilience of health systems. A resilient and fit-for-purpose health workforce is central to the health systems ability to deliver health services that are person-centred and meet the growing needs and expectations. Many small countries face similar challenges, such as uneven distribution, suboptimal skill mix, and shortages of health and care workers. Furthermore, countries are faced with increasing difficulties with retention of health and care workers due to stress and burnout and the need to attract young people into the health and care professions given the workforce itself is rapidly ageing. The aim of the high-level SCI-focused meeting is to: ₋ update participants on the implementation of the regional framework for action on the health and care workforce (to be adopted at the 73rd Regional Committee); ₋ take stock on the actions taken in small countries in the field of Human Resources for Health and identify gaps in national policies and actions needed in main areas and ₋ exchange views on digital innovation as a mean to address HRH challenges and learn from other countries’ experiences related to digital skills and change management. The meeting will be organized into two main sessions: ₋ Session 1 “Stock-taking” to discuss progress on developing national HRH strategies or action plans and identify areas where further progress can be made. ₋ Session 2 “Addressing HR challenges through digital innovation” to discuss how can digital innovation improve performance, identify opportunities to facilitate task shifting and reinforced teamwork and the digital skills required, to support continuous professional development and relevant change management requisites. The meeting is co-organised by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs. It will last for three hours. The working language of the meeting will be English. 1 Delegations The high-level delegations will be composed of Ministers of Health, SCI and HRH Focal points. Background In the Montenegro Ministerial statement (2022), “Towards better health and well-being”, the small country Ministers underscored the importance of strengthening the workforces to build more resilient health systems and to make health workforce planning and supply capability a priority so that, by 2025, all small countries will have developed and implemented national strategies for human resources for health. The Luxembourg Ministerial statement “Advancing health and well-being” (2023), acknowledged the progress made in meeting the healthcare workforce challenges and the peer collaboration of the SCI Working Group on Human Resources for Health. Ministers endorsed further actions needed to support development and implementation of national HRH strategies, such as an executive course on HRH leadership and management and technical support on retention and continuous professional development (CPD). The Framework for action on the health and care workforce in the WHO European Region 2023– 2030 adopted at the 73rd Regional Committee includes 5 main pillars: retain and recruit, build supply, optimize performance, plan and invest. Related documents: - Seventy-third Regional Committee for Europe: Astana, 24–26 October 2023: framework for action on the health and care workforce in the WHO European Region 2023–2030 - Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act, 2022 report - Human Resources for Health in Small Countries - Progress report to date - Bucharest Declaration, 2023 - Roadmap towards better health in small countries in the WHO European Region, 2022– 2025 (endorsed in 2022) 2