Pretoria, 17-21 September 2012 -- National Department of Health has concluded a five days’ Workload Indicator of Staffing Needs (WISN) Trainer of Trainers (TOT) training in Pretoria, South Africa. Opening the training, the Director General for Health, Ms Precious Matsoso, observed the WISN training as important and urgent ammunition to enable her to respond to a number of Human Resource (HR) issues and to inform policy decisions. The purpose of the training was to train the core team that would be competent in the WISN tool and its application.

The training focused on strengths and limitations of the WISN tool; WISN processes; setting up Steering Committee, Technical Task Force and Expert groups, determining priority cadres and health facility types; WISN method; using WISN results. The calculations using manual and WISN software were practiced intensively. WISN was emphasized as a HR planning and management tool and the importance of accurate data was reiterated.

65 participants from Provincial National Health Insurance (NHI) teams; Managers from eleven NHI pilot districts; HR Provincial Managers; Provincial Organizational Development Managers; Provincial, Regional and Tertiary Facility Managers; Department of Public Service and Administration; National Program Managers; Medical Research Council; Nurse Manager Private Sector; National and Provincial Monitoring and Evaluation Managers; and KwaZulu Natal Province’ Policy Management Deputy Director General.

The training team consisted of WHO staff from IST, AFRO, HQ, Kenya WCO and Ghana WCO. WHO pledged support to the Department of Health as it embarks on the process of training provincial teams and implementing WISN to finally come up with the staffing norms and standards in the next six months (March 2013).

In her address, the WHO Representative, Dr Sarah Barber, shared her appreciation of the partnership between the Department of Health and WHO that ensured the WISN training took place in South Africa when NDoH needed it most.

65 Health Workers complete Workload Indicator of Staffing Needs Training