Impacts of globalisation on health care

![CDATA[Shortages of skilled health care workers in developed nations, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, are driving the globalisation of recruitment of health care workers. Traffic in health care workers is now occurring not only among developed countries, but increasingly from developing countries to developed countries, raising ethical issues. Concurrently, as governments faced with the challenges of globalisation push market-driven policies, more and more of the health care sector is moving from public to private control and health care services around the world, overall, are under increasing strain. Concomitant challenges arising from these trends for both health care and employment relations professionals include: establishing locally acceptable health care standards, then maintaining those standards through staff selection, further pre-employment training (if needed), induction training, on-the-job education, training and experience, performance management and continuing professional development; mastering global recruitment methods and techniques; formulating selection criteria and methods in a global market, which produce qualitative and quantitatively effective outcomes and at the same time are equitable and culturally-attuned; issues associated with the sponsorship of migrants, such as relevant criteria (including shortages of skilled professionals locally), migration logistics and local acculturation, language training and social assimilation; diversity management of the newly g!obalised work force; forging effective and harmonious industrial relations throughout the enterprise, given the differing expectations of employees from diverse backgrounds about employment conditions and trade union membership and managing the increased exposure to risk. Examples drawn from leading health care organisations in the United Kingdom and the United States are used to illustrate emerging international best practice in addressing these challenges.]]