What is Skill Mix?
Skill mix has been broadly defined as the combination or grouping of different categories of
workers that is employed for the provision of care to patients. It can be applied to broad
(e.g. national) macro level planning or micro level in the context of local service delivery.
It can refer to:
· a combination of skills available at a specific time;
· a mix of posts in a given facility;
· a mix of employees in a post;
· a combination of activities that comprises each role;
· differences across occupational groups such as nurses and physicians or between
various sectors of the health system; or
· a mix within an occupational group such as between different types of nursing
providers with different level of training and different wage rates