EP Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care
Strengthening the resilience and skills of the future health workforce in Europe
Thursday, 22 September 2022 from 10.00 to 12.00 CET
Virtual meeting via Teams
Co-chairs
MEP Irena Joveva (Slovenia, Renew Europe)
MEP Tomislav Sokol (Croatia, EPP)
MEP Tudor Ciuhodaru (Romania, S&D)
MEP István Ujhelyi (Hungary, S&D)
Appropriately qualified and skilled healthcare professionals are key to building and strengthening resilient health systems that are able to react to and cope with 21st century challenges such as the green and digital transition, workforce shortages, ageing societies, and a raising number of non-communicable diseases, just to mention a few. Healthcare professionals can make the systems achieve the highest attainable standards of health, improve health service coverage, and help make communities more resilient against health system shocks. The health workforce also plays an important role in contributing to the preparedness and response to emergencies, such as governments’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and disasters, in particular through participation in national health emergency management systems, local leadership and the provision of health services.
In 2020, Health First Europe (HFE) along with European Health Management Association (EHMA) joined forces to launch the EU Health Policy Platform (EU HPP) Thematic Network on ‘Profiling and Training the Healthcare Workers of the Future’ to gather insights on the main challenges European healthcare professionals face and promote good practices on how to overcome them. Following several workshops and the publication of a Joint Statement in 2021, the Thematic Network expanded and became a Stakeholder Network which is composed of numerous healthcare networks and associations. The network members were consulted and responded with detailed feedback on their priorities concerning essential skills for all healthcare professionals, with a specific focus to those professionals represented by the network members.
This event will represent the official occasion to release the new Report of the EU Health Policy Platform Stakeholder Network on ‘Profiling and Training the Healthcare Workers of the Future’, which is based on the exchanges and discussions conducted with the members. The paper presents the current and future skills needs of the health workforce which these Network members identified as essential. It also outlines ideas and underlines upskilling and reskilling activities that can be implemented to equip the health workforce for better person-centred care across the European Union by 2030.
Key issues to be discussed:
- Supporting the integration of digital competencies into health professionals’ education and training programmes
- Promoting patient-centred communication in training programmes
- Reinforcing the adaptability in healthcare professionals’ education
- Promoting existing good practices and what green skills mean
- Fostering inter-institutional relations in favour of increasing attention on health workforce skills
Keynote contributors:
- Brandon Mitchener, HFE Executive Director
- MEP Istvan Ujhelyi, European Parliament, Co Chair of the Interest Group on Innovation in Health and Social Care
- Maya Matthews, European Commission, Directorate General for Health and Food Safety
- Dorota Tomalak, European Committee of the Regions
- Sabine Paasch Olsen, EUVECA coordinator
- Georgia Karyami, BeWell Programme manager
- George Valiotis, EHMA Executive Director
Please take a look at the agenda and event poster which you can promote widely.
We hope to see you online at our virtual roundtable! Register now!