REGIONAL- AND LOCAL-LEVEL PATTERNS OF HUMAN RESOURCE CAPACITY AND SHORTAGE IN HUNGARIAN HEALTH CARE

Abstract

In line with international trends, recent decades have witnessed an increasing shortage of
skilled workers in Hungarian public healthcare system. This absolute deficit is exacerbated
by spatial imbalances in the distribution of health labour force, which is mirrored, for
example, by patterns of vacant jobs in public health at the local level. However,
geographical aspects of health workforce have drawn relatively little attention so far from
scholars in Hungary.
The main aim of this study is to analyse the spatio-temporal patterns of health labour force
at regional and local levels in Hungary, and to provide recommendations for health policy
makers. For this purpose, three research questions are addressed: (1) What are the
geographical patterns of health labour force capacity in general practitioner (GP) service
in Hungary, especially at regional and local levels? (2) In which regions and local
municipalities can shortage of GPs be observed? (3) What are the lessons of the
geographical analysis of health labour force shortage in GP service for policy making? The
main hypothesis of this article is as follows: from a core–periphery perspective, in Hungary,
shortage of health workers in GP service is more severe in local municipalities which are at
the lower levels of the settlement hierarchy (i.e. municipalities with less population and/or
not legally classified as towns). To answer the research questions, a quantitative analysis
of data obtained from Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) and National Healthcare
Services Centre (ÁEEK) has been carried out. Results are illustrated by diagrams and
thematic maps prepared in Microsoft Excel and Quantum GIS 2.18.
The hypothesis is confirmed by the results of the quantitative analysis. There is a higher
shortage of GPs and paediatricians at lower levels of the settlement hierarchy in Hungary,
and in these local municipalities the workload of practicing doctors is larger than in
municipalities classified legally as towns or having more population.