PHSSR Saudi Arabia 2025

workforce to handle increased utilisation of emergency departments across the country. Facilitated by a rapid response training programme, these National Rapid and Emergency Response programmes delivered standardised task shifting experiences to over 280,000 professionals in more than twenty cities across the country. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the health system workforce played a crucial role in managing and mitigating the adverse effects of the pandemic. Several factors contributed to the effective handling of the crisis: •Rapid response : The health workforce quickly adapted to the rapidly evolving situation by implementing new protocols, guidelines and best practices to ensure the safety of both healthcare professionals and patients. •Capacity building : The MoH expanded the capacity of its health workforce by recruiting and training additional healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and support staff, to meet the increased demand for care. •Collaboration : A strong emphasis was placed on collaboration and teamwork among healthcare professionals, ensuring e fficient coordination between different sectors of the health system, including hospitals, primary care centres and public health agencies. •Telemedicine : To reduce the risk of transmission and maintain healthcare accessibility, the MoH expanded its telemedicine services, enabling healthcare professionals to provide remote consultations and follow-up care for patients with chronic conditions or those requiring routine check-ups. •Infection prevention and control : Rigorous infection prevention and control measures were implemented to protect the health workforce from Covid-19 transmission. This included the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), regular testing and vaccination for healthcare professionals. •Mental health suppor t: Recognising the psychological toll of the pandemic on individuals in the health sector, mental health support services, including counselling, stress management and resilience-building programmes, were made available to healthcare workers. •Public health campaigns : The health workforce was actively involved in promoting public health awareness campaigns, educating the public on preventive measures such as hand hygiene, social distancing and vaccination. •Continuous learning and adaptation : The health workforce demonstrated a commitment to continuous learning and adaptation, regularly updating their knowledge and skills based on the latest scienti fic evidence and global best practices. The physically and mentally demanding nature of provisioning health services is a global phenomenon, which also affects individual health practitioners, health service quality and the community. It also drains the system of human capital and financial resources. In the United States, a conservative base-case model estimates that, each year, physician turnover and reduced clinical hours are attributable to burnout cost approximately USD $4.6 billion (Han S et al., 2019). Addressing burnout is becoming an urgent priority at the national level. In a survey of the satisfaction of trainees with their medical education, (Housawi et al., 2020) found that almost two- thirds of SCFHS postgraduate trainee respondents “feel that they experience a signi ficant rate of burnout in their lives that has a key impact on their professional conduct and their lives.” Among the survey participants, representing all specialties, all levels of training and all provinces in Saudi Arabia, 56% reported burnout, de fined as high emotional exhaustion and/or high depersonalisation. Moreover, 40% of participants met the criteria for having the symptoms of depression. An SCFHS national well-being support programme, Da’em (meaning support) has added well-being to the accreditation of all healthcare training institutions. The Da’em framework is based on the 47 Sustainability and Resilience in the Saudi Arabian Health System The Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience