Quick supply of competent staff for neighborhood family health units – key to Greece’s primary health care reform
WHO
A series of WHO/Europe meetings to develop an initial training package for staff of neighbourhood family health units (NFHUs) took place in Greece on 22–26 February 2016, under the "Strengthening capacity for universal coverage" (SCUC) initiative. The aims of the joint WHO/Ministry of Health work comprised:
- evaluation of initial training needs for the staff of future NFHUs (doctors and nurses);
- evaluation of training capacities in terms of theoretical knowledge transfer and practical skills development;
- development of draft curricula for a short-term training package in family medicine to re-train specialist doctors and nurses; and
- initiation of a policy dialogue with major stakeholders on short- and long-term strategies for training at primary health care level.
The meetings included discussions with the leadership and key departments involved in training and recruitment of medical personnel in the Ministry of Health, the leadership of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and of the University's Faculty of Nursing, and representatives of professional associations.
The joint team visited Crete and met with:
- the leadership and staff of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Crete
- the University of Crete's Clinic of Social and Family Medicine and the outpatient unit of the University hospital
- members of the Cretan Practice Based Research Network "G. Lamprakis"
- the Mayor of Heraklion
- the President of the Medical Association of Heraklion
- local providers of primary care services
- local health authorities responsible for piloting NFHUs in the municipality of Malevizi.
The Greek Ministry of Health organized a wrap-up meeting on 26 February 2016, with a presentation of the week's findings. It also included preliminary recommendations regarding the main target groups for training, the potential providers of short-term training courses for doctors and nurses who will work in the future NFHUs, and the content of the training curricula. Participants also reached agreement on the way forward for finalizing the initial training package and making it available before the pilot NFHUs start operations.
About the SCUC initiative
The SCUC initiative is carried out with funding by the European Union through a grant agreement between the European Commission and WHO/Europe. Its general objective is to contribute to improving health and health equity in Greece, especially among the most vulnerable in the population, by helping the Greek authorities to move towards universal health coverage and to strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency and resilience of their health system.
