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Green Paper on EU Health Workforce: Challenges and Solutions

This Green Paper highlights the challenges facing EU health systems, such as an ageing population, threats to health, and the need for improved equity of access. It discusses the importance of a high-quality health workforce and explores issues related to EU mobility and global migration. The paper also addresses the lack of comparable data and the current legal framework, and presents potential actions at the EU level.

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Green Paper on EU Health Workforce: Challenges and Solutions

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  1. The Green Paper on the EU Workforce for Health VENICE, 25 June 2009 Elizabeth Kidd Health Strategy & Health Systems Unit European Commission

  2. Objectives of the EU Health Strategy – “Together for Health” • Fostering Good Health in an Ageing Europe • Protecting Citizens from Health Threats • Supporting Dynamic Health Systems and New Technologies

  3. Challenges facing EU Health Systems • ageing population/ageing workforce/threats to health (eg pandemic) • Need to improve equity of access throughout EU • Ever-rising expectations ; new treatments and new technology • Increased mobility of health professionals

  4. The importance of the EU Health Workforce • Developing effective and efficient health systems, with the capacity to improve health and prevent disease, depends on having a high-quality, efficient health workforce with the right skills – throughout the EU Member States

  5. Green Paper on the EU Workforce for Health • EU adopted a Green Paper on the EU Workforce for Health in Dec 2008 • Launched a debate on the challenges facing health systems and the health workforce, including ethical issues • Asked stakeholders to give opinion on a range of soft options for EU support or actions

  6. Health Professionals – the challenges of EU mobility • EU Directive 2005/36 – mutual recognition of qualifications • Mobility poses challenge for some specialties and some regions within MS • Shortages in one part of EU impacts elsewhere creating regional disparities • We are hampered by not knowing full picture

  7. Health Professional global migration – the ethical question • How can EU satisfy human right to migrate for economic and other reasons while solving our own shortages without destablising fragile health economies? • Green Paper discusses case for recruitment Code of Conduct

  8. Lack of comparable data • Europe-wide information and robust data on the composition of the workforce is lacking – why they move - where they move to – whether/ when they return • Moreover, difficult to plan properly when we don’t know if there is a true shortage – how many non-practising professionals are there?

  9. Current Legal Framework • EU Treaty Article 152 • Health services responsibility of MS – fully respect subsidiarity • « Community shall encourage cooperation ….and … lend support » • Take any initiative to promote coordination

  10. Legal Framework (2) • How can EU add value when the competence lies with Member States? • Clearly difficult – but aim of consultations is to find out extent of what MS and Stakeholders want • This helps in development of future EU policy

  11. What can we do at EU level? • Shared evidence base - improving monitoring and statistical system through available funding (EU, OECD, WHO) • Sharing good practice – supporting networks • Guidance; Guidelines; Recommendation • Support from European Social funds – train and reskill health workers; under-developed regions

  12. What can we do at EU level? (2) • Could be support for recruitment and training campaigns; return to practice campaigns • Training mature workers • Fostering cooperation between Member States – training /exchanges/ Veneto/Austria/Slovenia example  • Creating an « observatory » to assist future workforce planning, training needs, implementation of new technology

  13. Responses to Green Paper consultation • An encouragingly high number of responses –just over 200 • We are now analysing the responses

  14. Early results • Similar views on certain issues – financial crisis overshadows debate • Training (especially in context of mutual recognition of prof qualifications and exchange of information) • Lack of comparability eg nurses;acceptance of extended roles • Importance of Continuing Profess. Devel. • Ethical issues

  15. Early results (2) • Public health capacity an important issue (even before flu outbreak) • New technology; improved data • Language training and induction/orientation for recruits • Above all, robust human resource strategies to improve retention

  16. Next steps • After the analysis we will publish report • We need to test ideas against principles of subsidiarity (Art. 152);Financial impacts; bureaucracy • Present to new Commission

  17. End • Thank you • http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_systems/workforce_en.htm

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