Nationalisation of Health Workforce in Saudi Arabia's Public and Private Sectors: A Review of Issues and Challenges

Presently, Saudi Arabia depends largely on expatriate health workforce for delivery of health services. This article provides an overview of Saudization policy introduced by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and analyses its underlying impact on health workforce in public and private sectors. It also examines key strategic initiatives undertaken by the government for health workforce development and challenges of replacing expatriates in the country as envisaged in the Vision 2030. There are concerns about low participation of females in nursing, mainly due to a poor image attached to the profession, and further exacerbated by religious and cultural factors. There is a strong need to adopt a health workforce development policy that integrates local culture, values and social ties. Government needs to follow a multipronged approach to change the mindset of citizens to take up health care jobs, particularly nursing and pharmacist professions.