Key messages

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The Stock, Distribution, and Performance of Nurses and Physicians (Saudi Nationals) in Saudi Arabia

MARIAM M. HAMZA, MOHAMMED ALLUHIDAN, HUSSAH ALGHODAIER, ZIAD NAKSHABANDI, NABIHA TASHKANDI, MOHAMED HASSAN, AND JENNY X. LIU

KEY MESSAGES

• Despite overall adequate numbers of health workers in Saudi Arabia according to the World Health Organization (WHO) global benchmark for meeting universal health coverage (UHC), important imbalances exist in the workforce composition and distribution that undermine its effectiveness and efficiency in delivering health services. • The Saudi health system relies heavily on foreign workers; only one-third of all physicians and nurses are Saudi nationals, the total numbers for which fall short of the international UHC benchmark. • Among the Saudi health workforce, physicians and nurses are predominantly employed in hospital settings rather than primary care facilities and mostly practice within the Ministry of Health (MOH). • The health system also relies heavily on relatively inexperienced and lesser trained “diploma nurse” technicians (80 percent of the Saudi nursing cadre); this dependency is especially acute in rural areas where higher-skilled workers are scarce. • The imbalances reveal vulnerabilities in the Saudi health workforce and highlight areas in which increased strengthening is needed to achieve national transformation objectives.