Scoping the primary care workforce and stakeholder roles in developing competencies among the primary care workforce

Strong primary care is fundamental to better healthcare for all. The importance of a competent, high-performing and sustainable health workforce to strengthen health services delivery is increasingly recognised. The primary care workforce has a particularly important role in transforming healthcare systems to effectively respond to the demographic changes, the increase of chronic non-communicable diseases and multi-morbidity. However, knowledge and data sources are especially weak in primary care, as services are more complex, people-centred and diverse, thus less standardised and monitored. This project has three major objectives: to provide a clearer understanding of who makes up the primary care health workforce in different countries; understand which competencies are required for providing people-centred primary care services; and explore how stronger stakeholder involvement of different health professionals and their representatives can help improve these competencies but also serve as policy levers to enhance capacity building for a sustainable primary care workforce.