Overview
As part of its support and coordination activities with the Ministry of Health under the terms of Order No. 7985/2023 of 3 August and, more recently, Order No. 4757/2025 of 22 April, PLANAPP is carrying out research work dedicated to the qualification of management policies and strategic planning of Human Resources for Health (HRH), which is part of its study agenda.
This project aims not only to produce evidence on the characterisation and evolution of the Health Workforce in mainland Portugal, especially in the National Health Service (NHS/SNS), but also to contribute, in conjunction with the relevant bodies in the Ministry of Health, to the diagnosis of public HHR policies in the country, and to identify lines of prospect for in-depth planning, as well as a roadmap for action intending to qualifying the strategic management of HHR, particularly in the NHS.
Objectives
1) Develop exploratory studies in different areas of HRH research, namely:
- characterisation of the NHS workforce – primary and hospital healthcare – and its evolution over a recent period, in multiple dimensions (profession, gender, age), including territorial variation and population ratios, as well as the organisation of working time and absenteeism and professional retention/abandonment in the NHS;
- analysing the factors of professional satisfaction and dissatisfaction in some health professions (namely doctors and nurses) and the factors of abandonment/retention in the NHS (as well as retention factors), in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and involving the respective professional associations;
- analysing the evolution of HRH needs and supply in mainland Portugal, especially for some groups of health professionals (doctors and nurses), based on the health needs of the population and also on ratios and indicators of good practice in the field of benchmarking.
2) To collaborate with the Ministry of Health in the implementation of the National Inventory of Health Professionals, an essential tool for enabling long-term HHR planning, and in the development of the Human Resources and Salaries application, with a view to developing it into an effective information system to support strategic management of Human Resources in the NHS.
3) To contribute to the qualification of public policies on HRH in mainland Portugal.
Duration
The project will run from August 2023 to December 2026.