The demand for competence and qualification of medical personnel in the light of the results of empirical studies

Purpose: The article's primary purpose is to present issues related to the demand for competence and qualification of medical personnel. The specific goal is to identify gaps in healthcare professionals' qualifications and competencies and prepare recommendations/ positions for system changes. Design/methodology/approach: The author based his considerations on Polish and foreign literature on the subject, studying scientific articles and electronic sources. The author used the following professional databases to collect scientific literature: the Library of Science and Google Scholar. The author then performed qualitative (qualitative research – individual in-depth interview) and quantitative (statistical – online survey) analysis based on extracting as much knowledge as possible from the collected quantitative data. Qualitative research is a qualitative technique for obtaining data in which an interview is conducted based on a previously prepared interview scenario. The IDI technique makes it possible to get – in direct interaction with the respondent - data of a qualitative nature, which, although it does not allow (due to lack of representativeness) to generalize it to the entire population under study, provides in-depth information within the framework of a specific research question. On the other hand, the statistical analysis made it possible to determine the extent to which a given phenomenon occurs, and then indicate the main trends observed in a specific area and environment. As part of the research, more than 1,000 CAWI interviews were conducted with owners of medical facilities (POZ), and medical and non-medical personnel. Findings: The level of competence of healthcare workers concerns all citizens. The Polish education system is mainly oriented towards professional skills training. Social competencies are acquired by medical graduates only when they begin their professional work. On the other hand, employers require documents confirming professional qualifications when looking for employees. Increasing the competencies and qualifications of the staff of medical institutions will contribute to the continuous development of POZ. It will be the foundation of the entire, efficiently operating healthcare system. Therefore, special attention should be paid to management, finance, personnel development, and the comprehensiveness of care. Social implications: The market for medical services is developing rapidly in Poland. According to a report by research firm PMR titled: „Private healthcare market in Poland 2022. Market analysis and development forecasts for 2022-2027" (EMIS, 2022), price increases are one of the main challenges for the private healthcare sector. According to PMR, for the whole of 2022, prices for outpatient and other health-related services will increase by about 14 percent compared to 2021, which will, on the one hand, affect the nominal increase in the value of this market, but will also reduce its fundamental dynamics. On the other hand, the provision of primary healthcare services is carried out by various healthcare providers (entrepreneurs: individuals or legal entities, NGOs, SPZOZs) and professional practices (individuals and groups; doctors, nurses, or midwives). Among healthcare providers, entrepreneurs are the most numerous (83%). Providers contract with the National Health Service for a physician, nurse, and midwife care. According to the Human Capital Balance survey (PARP, 2022), medium and large enterprises continue to invest in developing their employees' competencies, despite the organizational and financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Work-based learning has remained a widely used means of developing competencies, used particularly frequently in the education, healthcare and social assistance, and industry and mining sectors. Among the most critical problems in the health, the sector is the shortage of personnel, resulting from generational changes, an ineffective system of pre- and postgraduate education, changes in work styles, migration, obstruction of access to certain specialties by interest groups, and an insufficiently effective system of supporting deficit specialties (residencies). A shortage of doctors and nurses has been evident in Poland for years. According to Eurostat data, Poland has the lowest number of practicing physicians per 1,000 residents in the EU (2.4), and the number of nurses (5.1 per 1,000 residents) is also among the lowest in the EU (Figure 10). However, official national estimates are higher - between 3.4 and 4.4 doctors per 1,000 residents (Kowalska-Bobko et al., 2021). Originality/value: The author addressed the article to health policy and legislation makers on the desired qualifications and competencies in the medical services labor market. Indirect recipients are market entrepreneurs involved in identifying and forecasting qualifications and professional needs in the labor market (Primary Healthcare (PHC) medical facilities - PHC owners, medical and non-medical staff). Parallel audiences are stakeholders involved in the formation of the qualification system of the healthcare sector, including institutions responsible for defining education standards and awarding titles, administrative units running education and qualification institutions, and formal education entities (universities, schools, training institutions). The article’s value is to identify gaps in the competencies and qualifications of medical personnel to shape health policy so that these gaps are minimized. Keywords: competencies, qualifications, healthcare system, medical personnel. Category of the paper: Research paper.