This podcast belongs to International Foundation of Integrated Care.

Health and care workers are our greatest asset, working alongside family carers, community partners and local networks of support. However, without reforms, sustaining the workforce is also one of our greatest challenges.

Core competencies for integrated care are highly relational: patient advocacy, communication, interdisciplinary working, people-centred care, and continuous learning. Leading and managing transformational change is a collective responsibility and sustainable improvements will only take place if a flexible approach to driving the change is embedded. Enabling individuals and the system to be their own change agents will create an environment that can effectively respond to the continuous evolution of communities and populations alongside being able to harness the potential of innovations and new ways of working.

The current pandemic has stretched our workforce beyond what we could have imagined. They have stepped up by extending scope of practice, blurring roles to support each other, and rapidly acquiring new caring and remote consultation skills to offer the best possible care and support in extremely difficult circumstance.

This is a unique opportunity to test integrated workforce solutions that will strengthen our systems and lead to better health, better care and better value.