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The EU healthcare sector represents a huge employment potential as a result of the rapidly ageing population and growing demand in medical care. However, a number of obstacles slow down the growth in this sector and can potentially endanger the quality of care:
- Lack of young recruits to replace the retiring healthcare personnel
- Care for the elderly requires new skills and treatments and a better knowledge of chronic conditions
- Some health professions are not attractive for the youth due to hard working conditions, stressful environment, poor work-life balance, relatively low salaries compared to some other sectors
- Severe shortages of health workforce in rural areas and oversupply in some urban areas
To address these challenges the European Commission published on April 18, 2012 an Action Plan for the EU Health Workforce. The Action Plan proposes a set of actions to be carried out in 3 domains:
- Forecasting workforce needs and improving workforce planning methodologies
- Anticipating future skills needs
- Sharing good practice on effective recruitment and retention strategies for health professionals
Once adopted, the Action Plan will be implemented by the Commission in cooperation with all Member States. The text has been submitted to the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament for consideration. Its full text is available:
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT on an Action Plan for the EU Health Workforce |
