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The McMaster Health Forum convened three citizen panels on the subject of planning for the future health workforce of Ontario. The three panels brought together 43 citizens from across the National Capital Region, Greater Sudbury area, and the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area to examine the problem, options for addressing it, and key implementation considerations. The purpose of the panels was to guide the planning for the future health needs of Ontarians and the necessary workforce to provide this care. Panel participants identified eight challenges related to planning for the future health workforce of Ontario. The first three of these challenges related specifically to health workforce planning, while the other five focused on health system challenges more broadly. These challenges included: (1) poor management of the supply, mix and distribution of health workers in Ontario and lack of clarity about health workers' responsibilities; (2) failure to adequately support informal/family caregivers and patients as partners in care delivery; (3) little patient engagement and poor integration of patient and caregiver preferences in decision-making about who provides care, and what types of services are provided; (4) lack of accountability and transparency across all levels of the health system; (5) differential access, availability and quality of services across Ontario; (6) no financial accountability and lack of clarity around resource stewardship; (7) sluggish adoption and integration of innovative technology to improve care; and (8) inadequate consideration of the impact of past policies.

The citizen brief was produced by the McMaster Health Forum to serve as the basis for discussions by the citizen panel on how to plan for the future health workforce of Ontario. The brief includes information on this topic, including what is known about: the underlying problem; three possible elements of an approach to address the problem; and potential barriers and facilitators to implement these elements. The three elements of an approach to address the problem have been informed from available evidence and conceptual frameworks, and have been selected in consultation with the steering committee that oversaw this project and with a number of key informants.

The panel summary highlights the views and experiences of participants from the three panels.

Edited excerpts from the three publications. Show less