Shaping the health future in Turkey: a new role for human resource planning

The expanding health needs and expectations of a growing and changing population in Turkey are placing new pressures on a health system that is increasingly financially constrained. These pressures are bringing into sharp focus the need to take radical approaches to the organization, planning and management of the health sector; and, in particular, in the planning and management of health human resources. Issues of effectiveness, efficiency and value for money are increasingly becoming the central issues for the 1990s and beyond. The article examines the development of the Turkish health system. Within a framework of health care reform proposals emerging from a major development project in the Ministry of Health itself, the text explores current initiatives and future needs in developing human resource planning if the health care reforms are to be successful in meeting the health needs of the population.