Health Workforce Planning: Comparative Analysis of Australia & Japan

This report presents a health workforce plan for Australia by comparing it with Japan, focusing on workforce planning as a means to achieve organizational objectives. It examines the current state of healthcare services in both countries, highlighting Japan's superior medical equipment and higher life expectancy rates. The report analyzes the roles of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, using WHO data to illustrate differences in healthcare service provision. Critical issues such as technical advancements and balancing the doctor-nurse ratio are discussed, alongside recommendations from WHO for policymakers to improve healthcare strategies. The findings reveal workforce statistics for both countries, including the number of doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists, and their socio-economic conditions. Graphs and charts are used to visually represent the data and facilitate comparisons.

Health workforce assignment
1

Executive summary
The current paper has shed light on the health workforce plan that is considered in Australian
context. Comparison and analysis of health system of the country with another country like
Japan have explained necessary actions that needs to be considered in this plan. Environmental
scan has also been done to evaluate the involvement of health care practitioners along with cost
of health care services that are visible in both countries. This paper has been reflective on the
present condition of doctors, nurses, physiotherapist, anaesthetics and other care practitioners
within the health care system of Austria and Japan. The data profile has been showed as per
relevant data of WHO. Through this data profile this paper has discussed how the present
scenario of health system has been changed from previous years and what needs to be improved.
Accumulation of data provided by WHO has also supported in making the workforce planning
without any issue. Graphs and charts have also made it easier to evaluate the difference between
health care services provided in these two countries. Critical issues regarding these countries’
health care system are also discussed in this context on the basis of environmental scan of both
the countries. Through analysing the critical issues this paper will led to revelation which areas
needs to be considered such as technical advancement or balancing the ratio of doctors and
nurses in order to improve the health care systems of Australia and Japan. Recommendation has
also been provided by WHO through which policymakers of Australia and Japan can change
their existing strategies of health care services.
The findings has provided insights on 2.83 crores population existing in Australia in the year
2015, with presence of 70,200 doctors and 25400 specialist practitioners operational in the local
health care sector. This is in addition to the high volume of nurses with figures of estimated 2,
57,200 also functional as of 2011 with approximately 80% of them being registered. All these
data has been gathered from the World Health Organisation. In 2015, nearly 29000
physiotherapists was also encountered to be active professionally. This is in stark contrast to
situation in Japan where 200 physicians per 100000 inhabitants in 2014.
2

Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Environmental Scan for the health workforce of Australia and Japan............................................4
Presenting a data profile of the health workforce by category for each country using WHO data
and other data sources......................................................................................................................6
Table, graphs, supporting explanatory text......................................................................................7
Critical issues regarding health sector in each country.................................................................12
Recommendations Developed based on WHO 2016 report..........................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................19
References......................................................................................................................................20
3

Table of figures:
Figure 1: Nursing and Physician Data of Australia (Source - (hiip.wpro.who.int, 2018))..............8
Figure 2: Nursing and Physician Data of Japan (Source - (hiip.wpro.who.int, 2018) )..................8
Figure 3: Data japan.........................................................................................................................8
Figure 4: Data japan.........................................................................................................................9
Figure 5: Data japan.........................................................................................................................9
Figure 6: Australia Data.................................................................................................................10
Figure 7: Australia Data.................................................................................................................10
Figure 8: Australia Data.................................................................................................................11
Figure 9: Comparison....................................................................................................................11
Figure 10: Comparison..................................................................................................................12
Figure 11: Comparison..................................................................................................................12
4

Introduction
This report will present a healthcare national workforce plan for Australia by comparing with
another western Pacific regional country, Japan. Workforce planning is the process through
which an organisation achieves its objectives by analysing as well as forecasting the needs. In
this context, workforce planning will be critically examined on the current state of healthcare
services of Australia and compare it with the present condition of Japan, and lastly, it will
identify some ways to deal with the gaps within the existing system. The reason behind choosing
Japan for the comparison is that Japanese healthcare facilities are much better than Australia in
terms of their service delivery and presence of far superior medical equipment. This could be
attributed to the technological proficiency of Japan which is significantly better than that of
Australia. This is in addition to in terms of life expectancy rates of an average of 84 years
whereas the life expectancy rate in Australia is 80. The expectancy rate is evidence of improved
capability of healthcare system in Japan than that of Australia. Historically, the citizens of Japan
are considered as the World’s healthiest as compared to the other developed countries.
The needs of workforce planning in healthcare system could be attributed to the rise in demand
for services from growing number of patients and other sufferers. The increment in emphasis on
provision for maintenance of high standard and quality has been crucial driving factor. This
needs the cooperation of all stakeholders associated with healthcare to execute their own
responsibilities in an optimal manner. The workforce planning is important in order to empower
the employees working in this health and service oriented industry. The planning also assists in
formulation of training and development initiatives to better equip the people to handle clients
from all kinds of different backgrounds in a uniform way. To establish the long-term
sustainability of health care institutions the workforce planning is of utmost significance to
document the potential challenges that can occur in future operations.
Environmental Scan for the health workforce of Australia
and Japan
In order to provide quality healthcare services, there are three levels of government in Australia
such as federal, state or territory along with local government (Cashin, et al., 2017). Basically,
the federal government plays an indirect role to provide funds to the state level health
5

professionals and subsidies for primary health care services through Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme (PBS) and Medicine Benefits Scheme (MBS) (apps.who.int, 2018). Whereas, state or
territory governments have the majority of health care responsibilities for public hospitals,
community health services, ambulance services, mental health care etc. The government of local
region delivers preventive health programs and community health care services through
immunisation and regulating food standards.
During 2014 to 2015 the total health expenditures of Australian government was 10.0 % of its
total GDP, and the government contributed two-thirds of these expenditures. In the year 2015,
the total expenditures of PHI were 8.7 per cent in terms of health spending. Medicare subsidies
been provided by the government through its tax system. In this concern, private health insurance
(PHI) offers more choices towards service users, and it has faster access in non-emergency cases
(who.int, 2018). Government is encouraging private organisation through PHI and some of the
health organisations are also have to pay penalty payments for not having the Medicare Levy
Surcharge.
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has initiated Health Workforce Australia
(HWA) in order to provide an advanced health workforce to fulfil the needs of Australian
Community and meet future challenges in healthcare sector. Through HWA, the health care
ministry of Australia has developed a workforce plan to deliver four main areas such as planning,
policy and research on current health care condition, clinical education, and new innovation and
reform the entire process through recruiting and retaining the international professionals in health
care services.
Presently Japan has ranked third in terms of health care services as this country is also well in
public health metrics. Universal Statutory Health Insurance System (SHIS) launched by the
Japanese government has a significant impact on present health care services (Mossialos, Wenzl,
Osborn, & Sarnak, 2016). SHIS has ensured that the quality medical services provided by
national and local governments through providing a subsidy to them (Lorenzoni, Millar, &
Sutherland, 2017). Currently, more than 1700 municipalities have been operating and organising
quality services for their residents (who.int, 2018). In the year 2013, this statutory health
insurance system has provided approximately 3500 noncompeting insurers for public, quasi-
public along with employer-based brokers (Yuda, 2016). It has been found that the average rate
6

of Japanese to visit doctors is 14 times in each year so the Japanese doctors cannot make any
profits (Kutzin, Yip, & Cashin, 2016.). However, the administration costs of medicine are
significantly lower than most of the western developed countries.
The health, Labour and welfare ministry of Japan along with the entire health care system in the
year 2003 provided advanced services by introducing a system for reimbursement on diagnosis-
procedure combination (DPC) (Mahlich, Kamae, & Rossi, 2017). The Japanese system
government gives incentives to the health care organisations for providing quality services within
a short time through prescribing fewer drugs and tests. In this way, the ministry of health is
encouraging healthcare organisations to improve the standard of their services.
Presenting a data profile of the health workforce by
category for each country using WHO data and other data
sources
In Australia doctors and nurses plays a significant role in delivering quality medical services so
that they needs to be highly trained to provide quality services for its population and it is also
enhance the social and economic well-being of Australia. The WHO data on Australian
healthcare sector has shown that in the year 2011 there were 70,200 doctors across the whole
region and 25400 specialist practitioners in the medical field (who.int, 2018). The total number
of specialists has been increased from last years which were 32000 doctors in the year 2001. On
the other hand, approximately 2,57,200 nurses were working in that region in the year 2011 and
80 % of them had been registered, the average annual increases are 1.4 % in terms of doctor and
nurses (physiotherapyboard.gov.au, 2018). In terms of physiotherapy WHO data has shown that
there is 29000 registered professional physiotherapists in Australia during the year 2015 while
Japan had recruited 26778 physiotherapist in the same year (Med.or.jp, 2015). WHO data has
showed that there are 308651 physicians in Japan during 2014 on the other hand there were
200660 physicians in Australia in the same year (Medicalboard.gov.au, 2015).
7

Table, graphs, supporting explanatory text
Figure 1: Nursing and Physician Data of Australia (Source - (hiip.wpro.who.int, 2018))
Figure 2: Nursing and Physician Data of Japan (Source - (hiip.wpro.who.int, 2018) )
1 2
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
1200000
62976 6.2
952768
93.8
Japan nurse
male female
Figure 3: Data japan
From the data it is noticed that male percentage is low in japan and female is high.
8

1 2
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
243627
80.3
59641
19.7
Japan Doctor
male female
Figure 4: Data japan
From the collected data the male doctor population in Japan is high and female is low.
47.344305522
1336
14.6620686180558
13.7521560211074
29.382827454
1974
Japan Profession
Doctor 21.12186437 Nurse 68.20320011
Dentist 7.271587077 Physical theripist 3.403348441
Figure 5: Data japan
The profession of nurses is high in Japan in comparison of others.
9

Australia Doctor
Percentage
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000 46,750
64
26,297
36
Australia Doctor
Male Female
Figure 6: Australia Data
In Australia the number of male doctor is high
total Percentage
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
Australia Nurse
Male Female
Figure 7: Australia Data
The female nurse is high in Australia.
10

Doctor Nurse Dentist Physical
theripist
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
australia Profession
Figure 8: Australia Data
Nurse is the highly demanded profession in Australia
Comparison
japan
Doctor Australian
Doctor japan
Nurse Australian
Nurse japan
Dentist Australian
Dentist japan
Physical
theripist
Australian
Physical
theripist
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
21.12
16.24
68.2
73.78
7.27 3.26 3.4 6.71
Chart Title
Figure 9: Comparison
Australian nurse is high in comparison.
11

Australian female japan female
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
16.562629171132
9
83.437370828867
1
Chart Title
Figure 10: Comparison
In comparison it is noticed that japan female is high
1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Chart Title
Australian male japan male
Figure 11: Comparison
In comparison Australian male is high in nurse.
12

The data of WHO has shown that there are 12, 71 crores of the total population in the year 2015
Japan, on the other hand, the total population of Australia was 2.83 crores in the same year. On
the other hand, WHO has also shown the socio-economic condition of both of these two
countries. In the year 2011 Australia has recruited 42, 99200 nurse personnel from the age group
of 0-29 which represented 100 %. On the other hand, the total value of nursing personnel is that
1,082,599 in Japan and the ageing criteria were same.
In terms of recruiting pharmaceutical personnel Japan has deployed total 20571800 personnel in
the year 2012 and on the other hand Australia has recruited 19,25300 professional personnel in
terms of healthcare sector.
In terms of recruiting physicians, nurses and midwives Austria has 304,507,00 personnel in the
year 2010, on the other hand, it has been seen in Japan that the health care ministry has recruited
1600000 professionals in this field.
In the year 2012 Australia has recruited 41, 066, 00 Physicians in private sector and 39 74700
physicians in public sector of health system. Whereas Japan has employed physicians 28885000
within the entire system in the same year. While in terms of recruiting nurse personnel Australia
has recruited 28, 28800 personnel on the comparison Japan has recruited 16, 29800 nurses in the
same year and 147400 medical graduates. In addition Australia has in a total of 213300
pharmacists for its 2.38 crores population on the other hand Japan has recruited 183500
pharmacist for its 12.71 crores citizens. These data has showed that Australia has deployed more
health care professionals than Japan, while Japan has more population but still health care system
of Japan is more successful than Australia. The reason behind such success is that Japan has
more systematic infrastructure than Australia and Japan administration has invested more money
to improve health sector.
Critical issues regarding health sector in each country
Four years ago, Japan had celebrated its 50 years of achievement in terms of providing good
health care at a low cost towards the citizens, and presently it has achieved full health insurance
coverage for the entire population. The government will continue its health improving system
through implementing universal health coverage in the field of universal global diplomacy.
Although this developed country has been facing serious problems due to low birth rate, rapid
13

ageing of citizens and fiscal pressure for the slow economic development (who.int, 2018). In
addition, emerging cost of health care services if the government would not take significant steps
to stop the rising price, it may reach from 8 % to 11 % by the year 2015. However, the strong
technological capability of Japan has been instrumental in engagement in continual improvement
of the healthcare industry, which has been contributory in its advantage over Australia.
Rising cost occurs due to lack of proper structure within the health system, on the other hand,
rapid uses of high-cost technologies and high priced generic medicines are the reasons behind
emerging costs of health care (Biller-Andorno & Zeltner, 2015). In addition, efficiency and
quality have ignored by the health care policymakers of Japan, as their focus was on increasing
more healthcare organisations rather than reforming the structure through providing incentives to
improve or identify the gaps (Ikegami, 2014). Till now there are no standardized benchmarking
for hospitals to enhance their performances. The Japanese government is aware of these
challenges, and the ministry of health department is trying to find out ways for the improvement.
Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, made a commitment to eliminate all the deficits within
the year 2020, he has recently adopted some strategies to decrease spending, reform the entire
structure and monetary easing which has been known as ‘Abenomics’ (Hausman & Wieland,
2014).
The healthcare system of Australia is complex in nature. Like the other international countries,
Australia will also face issues related to maintenance of health care system in the country owing
to the increase in the healthcare needs and requirements of the citizens residing in the country
(Akashi, Osanai, & Akashi, 2015). However, based on the information in the previous section of
the report, it has been analysed that Australia is striving towards the improvement of the
healthcare services for the common people to establish a society which is well-equipped in the
arena of healthcare. The first and the foremost challenge that can be faced by the country is
related to the demographic issues (WHO Western Pacific Region, 2018). Changes in the
demographic trends are expected to be affecting the healthcare sector of the country widely.
Another issue which has been recognised to be influencing the healthcare industry of Australia as
compared to Japan is the technological costs along with the funding, both private and public, for
the healthcare industry of Australia. The public funded healthcare system of Australia has ranked
well in international in terms of low mortality rates of infants and high life expectancy.
14

Although Australia is also facing major challenges like another developed countries in order to
improve patient health care. The complex structure of Australia is one of the main reason to raise
fund or distribute responsibilities among federal, state and local governments (Laurence &
Karnon, 2016). This could be attributed to the prevalence of complicated network of rules and
regulations that exists in the nation. In this context technical advancements have improved the
patient’s life through diagnosing disease easily. However, the government has to contribute more
monetary funds to utilise technically advanced equipment therefore the Australian government
has adopted a cost-effective policy to improve the entire health care services without losing more
economy (Naccarella, Wraight, & Gorman, 2016). There are lack of fundamental structures and
proper links between stakeholders which is essential to integrate national level medical research
plans. This is coupled with slow progression of technological advancement in the country has
halted its progress. In addition, rapid urbanisation into the entire region has posed significant
health issues like asthma, higher rates of obesity along with it has increased rate of suicides
(Buchan, Twigg, Dussault, Duffield, & Stone, 2015). Therefore, increased costs of medical
technologies, mix expenditures of public and private professionals, rapid increases of ageing
population, issues regarding complex structure of health services along with rapid urbanisation
(Roche, Duffield, Homer, Buchan, & Dimitrelis, 2015).
In the twenty-first century, the government of Australia must recognise new approaches to
prevent such challenges and rehabilitation is needed to effect the health services (McGrail &
Humphreys, 2015). The governments need to an emphasis on public consultation and agreement
in order to reform the structure of health care system. The focus of the health ministry should be
on wide area of medical field rather than fix small parts and proper leadership, courage and
wisdom are much-needed criteria to effect the health system (Lawn, Zhi, & Morello, 2017).
Recommendations Developed based on WHO 2016 report
Content Recommendation of
WHO
Recommendation for
Australia
Recommendation for
Japan
Gender WHO has
recommended that
health sectors needs to
maximise women’s
Based on the suggestion
of WHO, it is noticed
that inclusion of
diversified work culture
Japanese women have the
potentiality to provide
significant service in health
care services along with in
15

participation into health
sector through
empowering them. In
addition policymakers
needs to address gender
bias issues within health
labour area through
reforming the processes.
Today women are the
key service providers of
care services along with
humanitarian crisis and
mitigating conflicts
within this sector.
is important to enhance
involvement of female
employees in healthcare
sector. The government
of Australia should focus
on women’s participation
in health care services
which helps in reducing
discrimination,
institutionalise women’s
leadership skills and
eliminate inequalities in
education (who.int,
2018). In Australia, it is
much needed to reform
the process by tackling
gender biases. Currently
the workforce
participation of women is
60.5 % in Australia but in
health sector it is 40 %
occupied by Australian
women (Steel, et al.,
2018). Therefore WHO
had recommended that
the current administration
needs to raise the
participation level of
women through ensuring
their safety and
empowerment.
humanitarian crises, so the
country officials need to
emphasise on it. Therefore,
WHO has recommended to
promote equal power to
female employees in the
health sector of Japan.
Sharing equal opportunity
to female staffs increases
the chances of attaining
target goals in health care
sector. Presently there are
just 30% of female
students in medical
services and 34 % of
physicians in Japan
(Nemoto, Suzuki, &
Kondo, 2018). Moreover
lack of female
representatives has been
found in the leadership
position in health and
social services sector
which needs to be
mitigated to support
women empowerment.
16

Job
creation
WHO has emphasised
to stimulate investments
in order to create more
job options especially
for youth Australia in
the field of healthcare.
Expansion of job
opportunities would be
beneficial to manage the
business function in
target position. Through
creating more job
options WHO wanted to
enhance right skills of
the healthcare
professionals as it will
support the system to
reach right places within
a short period of time.
In order to initiate decent
jobs for women or youth
population the authority
needs to stimulate
investment through
improving skills of the
health professionals so
that service can be
provided towards the
right area.
In case of Japan WHO has
recommended taking
urgent actions to foster the
demand to maintain
sustainable development in
health workforce (Biller-
Andorno & Zeltner, 2015).
Inclusion of sustainable
workforce plan would be
beneficial to manage
recruitment of young age
population of Japan. WHO
personnel believes that it
will provide significant
results in health labour
market.
Education In terms of providing
education and training
WHO has emphasised
to increase investment
in order to providing
appropriate education
and training.
Reformation of education
system of Australia has
increased the chances of
providing inclusive
education system that is
important to reach large
number of individuals to
provide valuable
education. In terms of
education and training
WHO has recommended
that the government
In order to raise education
and training quality, it is
much needed to prioritise
total investment of the
policymakers of Japan. In
this case WHO has
recommended that the
existing models of
education need to shift
away from the narrow
conditions. The
government of Japan has
17

needs to raise its
investment to provide
quality education along
with lifelong triaging,
therefore, it will fulfil the
needs of the population
of Australia.
considered the divided
education strategy that is
important to share valuable
educational facilities to
large number of students
existing in the country.
Japan is also known for its
focus on education, but is
stressed owing to influx of
international students.
Skills In terms high quality
trainings to increase
workers skills WHO has
recommended to scale
up transformative and
lifelong trainings that
can match
contemporary health
needs of citizens.
In order to enhance skills
of Australian
professionals WHO has
recommended that the
ministry of health
department of Australia it
is much needed to
address barriers within
the system as the
structure of the health
care system is very much
complex in there (Blank,
Burau, & Kuhlmann,
2017). The government
of the country has
focused on introducing
professional training
session that is important
to manage performance
level of workers
successfully.
In terms of enhancing
skills among the health
professionals of Japan
WHO has emphasised on
reinforcing effectiveness of
health workers of
community-based
programs in Japan. It will
also include all the
professional health care
workers within the
community-based
programs.
18

Health
service
delivery
To reform the health
services WHO has
recommended to focus
on efficient provision of
affordable, integrated
and community based,
people centred care. So
the policymakers needs
to pay special attention
towards underserved
areas.
In terms of enhancing the
health services WHO has
recommended reform it's
service models it is much
needed to concentrate on
the hospital care services
by focusing on
preventing unnecessary
barriers. In this context
WHO has also
recommended integrating
community-based
programs through paying
special attention to the
underserved areas within
this system. In addition,
this world-renowned
organisation has also
emphasised to make the
health care facilities
more affordable towards
the common public of
Australia.
In order to improve the
healthcare services WHO
has recommended that the
country professionals of
Japan need to adopt global
health strategy to enhance
the entire performance of
the whole sector. In this
condition social business
models to reach the
underserved areas of
healthcare sector of Japan.
In addition, public policies
along with regulatory
bodies need to ensure the
interests of health
professionals along with
protecting the public’s
interests in the field of
healthcare. The policy is on
verge of being
implemented into the
existing regulation of
Japan.
Crisis To mitigate crisis within
the system WHO has
ensured investment in
all the national and
international health
regulatory sectors
within humanitarian
WHO has recommended
that Australia needs to
improve crisis
management strategy to
improve functioning of
health workforce to
detect health care system
In order to avoid crises in
healthcare sector of Japan
WHO has recommended to
ensure its winning strategy
that including skills
national and international
workers within the
19

settings along with
public health
organisations both for
the protracted and acute
sectors. Therefore the
organisation needs to
ensure security of all the
health professionals and
protect them from
conflicts within the
system.
through responding
properly towards the
public health risks as
well as emergencies
(Guzman, et al., 2015). In
order to avoid fragile and
conflicts health workers
along with facilities by
health, organisations
have been targeted by
WHO in terms of
Australia.
humanitarian settings as
well as public health
emergencies (Akashi, et
al., 2015). In addition,
WHO has ensured the
security and protection of
all the workers through
proving them necessary
securities along with
facilities within the
settings.
Conclusion
The undertaking on evaluation of existing healthcare framework in Australia has been conducted
in comparison to that of Japan which is also a country in the western pacific region. The prime
intention behind this has been the presentation of national workforce plan. The analysis has been
reflective that Japan has a competitive advantage over Australia in terms of greater technological
prowess. This is in addition to the presence of higher ratio of doctors and nurses and other
healthcare personnel in the nation which has resulted in deliverance of better and rapid service.
The life expectancy has also been documented to be higher with an average of 84 years. The
cumulative impact of all these parameters has led to revelation that Japan has illustrated
substantial progress in this domain.
20

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