Table 2

Wastage monitoring framework

DIRECT WASTAGE

Factor
Examples of contribution to wastage
Possible indicators

Movement from health to non-health sector
Probably small: 2 – 20 staff per year (Ghana. Mozambique, Namibia)
% of job leavers exiting health work completely (exit interviews)
Emigration to health sector outside country
10% of Mauritian nurses, 61% of Ghanaian doctors
Certificate verification rates
Routine leaving data, e.g. resignations
Deaths, injuries and premature removal from the workforce
High significance of HIV/AIDS; Ghana 1.1% deaths compared with Malawi (<55%) of leavers
Mortality rates as % of workforce leavers, or Mortality rate in workforce
Inappropriate Administrative systems and policies
Affects other losses. Delays lose work input and may increase likelihood of emigration.
Average recruitment duration
Staff recruitment rate versus vacancies

INDIRECT WASTAGE

Wastage as unemployment
Not well documented in Africa. Estimates of "ghost workers"?
Unemployed health workers as % of total workforce (for each category)
Wastage as underemployment
Data is not routinely collated but staff/workload indicators may help.
Staff workload Indicators, e.g. outpatient and inpatient staff per cadre
Wastage as a misuse
Significant in countries with senior medics and nurses as managers.
% staff: technical or professional in full-time managerial/administrative function
Wastage as inappropriate categories
4–6 categories to deliver package of services in Ghana.
Workforce composition of skilled and semi-skilled staff
Absenteeism, low outputs
2.3 days' sick leave per staff member versus 1.65 days off for all staff (Ghana)
Number of days off per staff member, per annum.
Misdeployment and maldistribution
Distribution differential: Doctors (Ghana): best 1:16201, worst 1:66071
Doctor/nurse population ratios in different parts of country.
Wastage from misadministration of HRH
Difficult to assess quantitatively: e.g. 100% of new Lesotho nurses not recruited in 1998
Recruitment and retention rates of new graduates of health training schools.

Dovlo Human Resources for Health 2005 3:6   doi:10.1186/1478-4491-3-6