The health workforce must be able to cope with shifts in the pattern of causes of death and disease that are being seen worldwide—particularly with the rise in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This requires health personnel to have a set of skills and competencies that can adapt to meet the population’s growing and changing health needs. This report examines the status of the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean, assessing how best to strengthen its capacity to respond to the growing burden of NCDs. The report is based on four Eastern Caribbean case studies conducted in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The case studies showed that, although overall nurse staffing levels seem to be sufficient across the four countries in terms of numbers, there are nurse shortages at hospitals and health clinics, as well as in the availability of specialists. Better management of the nurse workforce is needed to ensure adequate coverage at the hospitals and clinics is maintained. In terms of specialists, while the quality of education is generally reported to be good, there are barriers to accessing specialized training which include the high-cost of seeking specialized training due to non-existing or very limited local options and the lack of built-in incentives for completing additional education. To help address the capacity constraints faced by the nurse workforce in the Eastern Caribbean to respond to NCDs, the report generated knowledge in support of two critical areas: (i) provide an understanding of the educational and training opportunities available to nurses to strengthen their capacity to meet the NCD challenges, and (ii) assess whether there is a supportive policy environment in place for nurses to play a role in addressing NCDs. As part of the study, a toolkit was developed, which can be used to strengthen the capacity for HRH planning and management with respect to NCDs.

In this study, we assess the size of the government wage bill and employment in the member countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union and their implications for fiscal sustainability and the adequacy of public service delivery. Over the period 2005 to 2015 their wage bill (as a percentage of GDP, government revenues and expenditures) is higher than in other small states notwithstanding recent efforts by governments to make it more manageable. The composition and distribution of employment is sub-optimal and is reflected in skills mismatches contributing to inefficiencies in public service delivery. Using a dynamic fixed-effects panel, we find that wage bill growth reflects the expansion of government activities to speed up economic and social development and that wage bill spending is procyclical in good times but is rigid during downturns. Finally, we identify the main institutional and legal reforms needed to improve wage bill management and public service efficiency.

This book reviews current education and skills training options in the Eastern Caribbean and asks whether the prevailing education policies adequately prepare youth for the global economy. It provides in-depth analysis and relevant international cutting-edge practices to guide policymakers, educators and private sector leaders in fostering a creative, productive and well-paid workforce. Specifically, it makes the case for why the OECS education and training systems need to be more responsive to changing labor market demands in the region, and discusses how this could be achieved, taking into c.

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This new edition to the series will provide an up-to-date textbook covering a wide-range of employment and labour law issues which affect the Commonwealth Caribbean. Initially the book will embark on a comparative analysis of employment and labour law in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados, as a reference point for distinguishing the laws of other Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions. The book will continue to examine how the law operates within the legal systems of the Caribbean, taking into account the umbilical link to British jurisprudence and the persuasive precedent of other Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the impact this has had on the growth and development of the area. Commonwealth Caribbean Employment and Labour Law will be essential reading for students enrolled on Employment Law, Discrimination and Dismissal Law courses in the Caribbean.