ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Lessons Learnt during the Implementation of WISN for Comprehensive Primary Health Care in India, South Africa and Peru.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Survey protocol: implementing Workload Indicators of Staffing Need in Iranian primary healthcare services.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- A Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) based framework and implementation tool for dietitians at South African central and tertiary public hospitals.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Addressing skilled birth attendants' needs of primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria using the human resources for health solutions model.Discover health systems · 2025Review
- The implementation of the Workforce Indicators of Staffing Needs (WISN) method to improve access to health workforce in selected South-East Asian countries.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Investing in health workers: a retrospective cost analysis of a cohort of return-of-service bursary recipients in Southern Africa.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of return-of-service bursary schemes for health workforce capacity: a qualitative study of Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.BMJ public health · 2023Article
- One size does not fit all: an application of stochastic modeling to estimating primary healthcare needs in Ethiopia at the sub-national level.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Global, regional and national burden of endocrine, metabolic, blood and immune disorders 1990-2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study 2019.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Addressing the need for an appropriate skilled delivery care workforce in Burundi to support Maternal and Newborn Health Service Delivery Redesign (MNH-Redesign): a sequential study protocol.Wellcome open research · 2022Article
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15 authors.
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Abstract
introductionThe 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.
methodsA 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.
resultsIndia 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.
conclusionWhile 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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