A Critical Review of Healthcare Human Resource Development: A Saudization Perspective

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is currently in a transformation phase, which has resulted in a significant demand for healthcare services in the country’s healthcare system to provide better healthcare facilities for the fast-growing population and the growing elderly population. The lack of trained healthcare professionals and strong dependence on foreign labour are important aspects for policymakers to address, thus requiring Human Resource Development (HRD) initiatives to provide adequate learning and competence to a huge reserve of healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia. In this regard, this paper contributes to Saudi Arabian health care by reporting healthcare professionals’ experiences of working in the Saudi health sector under the newly proposed Vision 2030 and NTP 2020 interventions in the HRD sphere of healthcare. The Vision 2030 is a testimony to a revolutionary step taken by the Government to reform the Saudi healthcare sector and provide HRD opportunities.