Nursing Now Co-Chair, Lord Nigel Crisp launches new report about the future roles of health workers globally 

A new report, launched today by a group of leading Parliamentarians and health experts, finds that major changes are likely and needed in the roles of health workers globally.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, co-chaired by the Nursing Now Co-Chair and former NHS Chief Executive Lord Nigel Crisp looked at the future roles of health workers globally over the next 20 years and beyond.

“Health workers will need to take on a strengthened role as agents of change and curators of knowledge to meet significant health challenges in the coming decades.” Lord Nigel Crisp, Co-Chair APPG, Global Health. 

After hearing from patients’ representatives, health workers, trainees and students, academics, and political leaders from 17 different countries, as well as three commissioned literature reviews, the report concludes that there are likely to be major changes in what health workers do on a day-to-day basis, in their relationships with others, and in the way they are organised, employed, and educated.

The report, Probable Futures and Radical Possibilities: An exploration of the future roles of health workers globally, describes probable futures – areas where there is a great deal of consensus about the future – and identifies radical possibilities which are far more uncertain but could have an enormous impact on global health. 

The most radical idea at the heart of this report is that health workers will increasingly need to become agents of change and curators of knowledge in addition to their other roles as clinicians, educators, researchers or specialists in public health, policy and management. This is accompanied by a vision for health described by the report which envisages a future where there is a common effort across all sectors to improve care, prevent disease and create health; and most care, treatment and support are delivered in homes and communities through blended in-person and virtual services and transformational technology.

Read the full report here.