Cross-Border Healthcare in Europe: Promoting Equal Access to Quality - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Cross-Border Healthcare in Europe: Promoting Equal Access to Quality Care

Adapting Healthcare Workforce to an Evolving Labour Market

Tjitte Alkema, Secretary General of HOSPEEM

Brussels, 1st July 2015

 Hospital employers’ perspective on the Recognition

• f Professional Qualifications in the EU
• Positive achievements:
• Automatic recognition of professional qualifications for the 5 main healthcare professions

(doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists and pharmacists)

• Internal Market Information System (IMI)
• Many successful examples of targeted recruitment to fill shortages
• Some success factors: preparation; help with relocation; housing; practicalities; good

clinical induction; pastoral support and cultural/social integration.

• Pitfalls and issues of concern:
• General system/compensation measures
• Continuing competence/continuous professional development
• Necessary employers’ vigilance when checking fitness for purpose
• Tension between freedom of movement and patient safety
• Brain drain - Detrimental impact on health services in some exporting EU countries
• Implementing acts

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 CPD for the Health Workforce: a key challenge

• Rapid developments in healthcare raise significant issues around training of

healthcare staff

Pyramid on CPD related topics

• Quality of care and patient safety are paramount

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Quality of care and Patient safety Continuous Professional Development and Life-Long Learning Recognition of Professional Qualifications

 Work carried out by the European Sectoral Social

Partners for the Hospital Sector on CPD & LLL

• Setting up of a joint HOSPEEM-EPSU Working Group on Continuous Professional

Development and Life-Long Learning (CPD and LLL)

• First meeting in March 2015, second meeting in June 2015
• Expected deliverable: joint declaration on access to Life-Long Learning (LLL) and

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for all healthcare staff in the EU by the end of 2015

• Structure: statement of principles on CPD/LLL for health workers in the hospital sector,

followed by examples of existing good practices

• Joint declaration build around thematic areas identified as relevant for the social partners

in the hospital sector

• Focus on post graduate training
• Some core elements:
• CPD/LLL not limited to the 5 automatically recognised health professions under Directive

2013/55/EU

• Training available for everybody across the entire life course with a special focus on 45+

workforce

• Equality of access
• Mutual responsibility of the employer and the employee

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 The importance of Health Workforce Management

and Planning

• Workforce planning mechanisms need to take into account present and future

health care demand and respect ethical recruitment principles

• Participation of HOSPEEM in the EU Joint Action on Health Workforce planning

and forecasting as collaborating partner – Active involvement in WP4 « Data for health workforce planning »

• Estimate future needs in terms of skills and competences
• Increase capacity in HWF planning and forecasting, data collection and analysis
• Share expertise and good practices; Exchange knowledge

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 Recruitment and Retention of Health Workforce:

a critical issue

• Adoption by HOSPEEM and EPSU of a Framework of Actions on Recruitment and

Retention (FoA on R&R) on 17 December 2010

• Supports the recruitment and retention of workers in the hospital sector
• 5 thematic areas covered by the FoA on R&R:

 Improvement of work organization  Development and implemention of workforce planning mechanisms  Encouragement of diversity and gender equality  Initial training, life-long learning and continuous professional development  Achievement of the safest possible working environment

• Drafting by HOSPEEM and EPSU of a joint follow-up report to the Framework of

Actions on R&R:

• Collection of good practices and challenges faced
• Synthesis report to be submitted to the European Commission
• Provide a social partner-based input into the study of DG SANCO on Effective recruitment

and retention strategies for EU health workers

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Thank you for your attention!

Tjitte Alkema: t.alkema@hospeem.eu Tel: +32 2 229 21 58 For more information: www.hospeem.org / hospeem@hospeem.eu

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