PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

Domain 3: Workforce Sustainability •As elsewhere, the length of time it takes to train healthcare workers poses challenges to the sustainability of the health workforce. On average, it takes 16 years to add skilled talent to the health workforce. •Despite a projected overall surplus of physicians and nurses by 2030, imbalances in skill-mix and geographic (urban v. rural) distribution of the healthcare workforce pose challenges to equitable access. •The current heavy reliance on non-Saudi health professionals, who have a high turn-over rate, threatens the long-term sustainability of the health workforce. In addition, nearly 20% of physicians and 7% of nurses are expected to retire within the coming ten years. •The educational and training infrastructure has not produced enough quali fied healthcare professionals to meet the growing demand, leading to a reliance on foreign workers to fill the gap. The government is actively working to increase the number of trained Saudi healthcare professionals through the establishment of the Saudi Health Academy and initiatives such as the Nitaqat programme. •Health practitioners from over 120 countries work in different clinical and support fields. This blend of international and national professionals (a) provides a diverse range of expertise and perspectives, enhancing the quality of care and fostering innovation, (b) helps to transfer international best practices into the Saudi healthcare system and (c) facilitates knowledge exchange, promoting continuous learning and improvement in healthcare provision. Resilience •Going into the Covid-19 pandemic, the most signi ficant challenge was having a su fficiently skilled workforce to deal with the pandemic within both health facilities and communities. To tackle this, a national multi-organisation effort resulted in the creation of the National Rapid and Emergency Response Programmes. •Despite workforce pressures, a number of factors contributed to the effective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic: swift adaptation by the health workforce to the evolving situation; expansion of the capacity of the health workforce; strong emphasis on collaboration among healthcare sectors and professionals; expansion of telemedicine services to reduce the risk of transmission while maintaining accessibility; rigorous infection prevention and control measures to protect the health workforce; and effective public health campaigns. •Addressing burnout is becoming an urgent priority at the national level, with a survey in 2020 finding that almost two-thirds of SCFHS postgraduate trainee were affected. In response, a national well-being support programme has added well-being to the accreditation of all healthcare training institutions. The programme is growing, with more than 550 counselling sessions in 2022, compared to 300 in 2019. Domain 4: Medicines and technology Sustainability •The Centre for Health Technology Assessment will provide evidence-based recommendations and inform policy regarding speci fic medicines and technologies. The implementation of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), which focuses on evidence and value-based approaches to the allocation of resources, should facilitate improved and equitable quality of care, improved efficiency (both allocative and technical), and thus sustainability. 10 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience