UEMO joins Stakeholder Consultation on EU Health Workforce Report
On 23rd May, UEMO was invited to join MEP Tilly Metz (Vice-Chair of SANT Committee) for a stakeholder consultation at the European Parliament to provide inputs on the upcoming joint Healthcare Workforce Report (“EU health workforce crisis plan: sustainability of healthcare systems and employment and working conditions in the healthcare sector”) which is being drafted by both the SANT and the EMPL Committees of the European Parliament.
Alongside UEMO, delegates from CPME, EFN, PGEU, ICM, EPSU, WHO Europe, EJD, UEMS, WONCA Europe and the European Medical Students Association all joined to discuss their prioritization needs of the healthcare professional from the point of view of each sector. The roundtable consisted in addressing 7 priorities points identified by SANT Committee and having each organization representative pitching in a 6 minute intervention regarding each of the 7 points below.
The inputs from UEMO:
- Working conditions: there is a current shortage of Medical Doctors (MDs) and General Practitioners (GPs) across Europe even in countries that have good working conditions. This puts pressure on patients’ waiting lists and consequently on the number of patients per doctor. A recommendation provided was to have a minimum visit time with the promotion of flexible working conditions for MDs/GPs
- Workplace Planning and Staffing: we have good lessons learnt from the Spanish Medical Association that has drafted an infographic on positive and negative policies impacting Workplace Planning – this could be an example to be adopted across healthcare sectors and countries
- Impact of Digitalisation: while the use of electronic systems is supporting the simplification of processes, there are some issues due to the fact that often different non-communicable platforms are being used. The focus should be on interoperability.
- Education and Training: one of the biggest challenges in the preparation of the new generation of HCPs is the different duration of trainings which can differ by as long as three years, impacting on the level of training and in the long-term on the quality of healthcare. The recommendation is to advocate for a common curriculum
- Cross-border Mobility, Recognition of Qualifications: For MDs/GPs this is a burning point that needs to be addressed as General Practice / Family Medicine is recognized as a Specialty in some EU countries but not all. UEMO calls for the inclusion of General Practice / Family Medicine in Annex 5.1.3 in the Directive on recognition of Professional Qualifications. Standardization is needed to support cross-border mobility
- Task-Shifting: Task-shifting can support the work of GP/MD however it is important to note that there are some challenges such as the example in the UK of Physician Associates where this support role is often taking over the GPs/MDs even though PAs are not trained to manage undifferentiated illness, which impacts on the quality of care
- Prevention of Violence: With the acknowledgement that violence against GPs/MDs is on the rise, the recommendation around this subject is to use the common reporting form against violence developed by CEOM and implement a zero-policy tolerance in the workplace.
Every representative of the entities that attended the meeting shared similar perspectives across the seven key discussion points with differing priority levels depending on the sector in consideration. The inputs provided from all the delegates will feed into the preparation of the health workforce Report. More information will be shared as soon as the draft document will be ready to be reviewed.
