Professor James Buchan
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About
Professor Buchan has four decades of experience in policy advice and implementation and applied policy research and evaluation on health systems and human resources for health. He also has extensive experience at senior level in the UK, Australia and other countries, mainly in Europe and Asia Pacific, including working for WHO and as a consultant for other international agencies such as OECD, ICN and the World Bank. healthcare workforce implications of health sector reorganisation and healthcare reform.
He is a Senior Fellow at the Health Foundation, UK; an Adjunct Professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre, University of Technology Sydney; Senior Fellow, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania, USA; and Visitor Professor, National School of Public Health (ENSP), Portugal.
He is currently a Member, National Nursing Workforce Strategy Steering Committee, Commonwealth government, and a member of the Ministerial Taskforce on the Nursing Workforce, Scottish government.
Professor Buchan’s professional experience spans 50+ countries (e.g., Australia, China, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Portugal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, UK) where he has provided policy analysis and advise to governments and other stakeholders on healthcare workforce policy and planning.
He also has an extensive experience as a conference key note speaker; a strong publication track record; and he is the editor-in-chief emeritus of global peer reviewed journal. “Human Resources for Health” https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/
Affiliations
Research interests
Health workforce policy and planning;
Recruitment and retention of health workforce;
Health workforce implications of health sector reorganisation and healthcare reform;
pay, incentives and reward strategy;
Workforce planning;
Employment relations;
Labour market analysis;
Skill mix/ advanced practice/extended roles.
Location
Remote
Publications
Recent publications include:
McIsaac, M., Buchan, J., Abu-Agla, A. et al. (2024) Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030—A Five-Year Check-In. Hum Resour Health 22, 68 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-024-00940-x
Buchan J (2024) Navigating nurse safe staffing approaches in the UK. Health Foundation
Bazeer N, Kelly E, Buchan J (2024) Nursing locally, thinking globally: UK-registered nurses and their intentions to leave. Health Foundation
Buchan J, Catton H (2023) Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System Effectiveness. International Council of Nurses. https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/2023-07/ICN_Recover-to-Rebuild_report_EN.pdf
Onvlee, O., Kok, M., Buchan, J., Dieleman, M., Hamza, M., & Herbst, C. (2023). Human Resources for Health in Conflict Affected Settings: A Scoping Review of Primary Peer Reviewed Publications 2016–2022. International Journal of Health Policy and Management.
Karan, A., …………Buchan J et al. (2023). Achieving universal health coverage and sustainable development goals by 2030: investment estimates to increase production of health professionals in India. Human Resources for Health, 21(1), 17.
Kumar P……….Buchan J ………(2022). Review of international migration of nurses from the state of Kerala, India. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/363438/9789290209966-eng.pdf
Fronteira, I., Buchan, J., Poz, M. R. D., & Ferrinho, P. (2022). Leadership in HRH: remembering the future?. Human Resources for Health, 20(1), 1-3.
Buchan J (2022) Nurse workforce sustainability in small countries: monitoring mobility, managing retention. Policy brief. World Health Organization.
Buchan J, Zapata T, Williams G (2021). Governing health workforce responses during COVID-19. Eurohealth (27.1), 12 September 2021.
Karan, A., Negandhi, H., Hussain, S., Zapata, T., Mairembam, D., De Graeve, H., Buchan J & Zodpey, S. (2021). Size, composition and distribution of health workforce in India: why, and where to invest?. Human resources for health, 19(1), 1-14.
Fronteira I, Dussault G, Buchan J (2021) Rethinking human resources for health : on the edge of the post-modern era. Almedina Publishing, Coimbra, Portugal. ISBN 978-972-40-9096-2
Zapata T, Buchan J, Azzopardi-Muscat N. (2021) The health workforce: Central to an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Region. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management. 2021 Mar. DOI: 10.1002/hpm.315
Buchan, J., Shembavnekar, N., & Bazeer, N. (2021). REAL Centre Nurses’ pay over the long term: what next?. Health Foundation, London.
Zapata, T., Zakoji, M., Kanda, M., Travis, P., Tangcharoensathien, V., Buchan, J., & Jhalani, M. (2021). Implementing a decade of strengthening the health workforce in the WHO South-East Asia Region: achievements and way forward for primary health care. WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 10(3), 76.
Buchan, J., Campbell, J., & McCarthy, C. (2021). Optimizing the contributions of nursing and midwifery workforces:# Protect,# Invest,# Together. Human Resources for Health, March 2021
Zapata, T., Buchan, J., Tangcharoensathien, V., Meliala, A., Karunathilake, I., Tin, N., ... & Noree, T. (2020). Rural retention strategies in the South-East Asia Region: evidence to guide effective implementation. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 98(11), 815.