Sittings · Document
On an EU health workforce crisis plan: sustainability of healthcare systems and employment and working conditions in the healthcare sector
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Committee on Public Health · Rapporteur: Loucas Fourlas, Ruggero Razza
Parliament's resolution on an EU health workforce crisis plan calls for a long-term European healthcare workforce strategy to add at least one million professionals over the 2028-2034 funding period.¶ It asks for safe staffing rules, better working conditions, fair pay, mental health support and protection from violence, and for Member States to adopt national workforce strategies.¶¶¶ It seeks action on regional inequalities, informal carers, telemedicine, digital skills, ethical recruitment, recognition of qualifications and dedicated EU health funding.¶¶¶
Key points
- Calls on the Commission to develop a long-term European healthcare workforce strategy to increase the workforce by at least one million professionals over the 2028-2034 funding period, covering a deficit of around 1.2 million.¶
- Says EU action must respect subsidiarity, national competences and social partner autonomy, and calls on Member States to adopt regularly updated national strategies with long-term workforce planning.¶¶
- Calls for integrated workforce strategies to attract young people, tackle brain drain, align education with health needs, and set up a separate Erasmus exchange programme for healthcare education and training.¶
- Calls on the Commission to propose a Council recommendation on safe staffing, to consider an obligatory framework with workload controls and patient ratios, and to develop an EU tool for measuring nurses' workload.¶¶
- Calls for job security, fair remuneration, adequate minimum wages, limits on night and long shifts, rest periods, protection from precarious employment, and monitoring of the Working Time Directive.¶¶
- Calls for financing of traineeships and clinical placements, legal protection and fair pay for junior doctors and residents, and EU minimum quality standards for residency programmes.¶¶
- Calls for work-life balance, family-friendly arrangements, equal pay, implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive, and action against gender-based discrimination and violence.¶¶
- Deplores violence against healthcare professionals and calls on Member States to adopt national safety action plans with training and support mechanisms.¶
- Calls for mental health and substance-dependency support for the whole healthcare workforce, proper implementation of the OSH Framework Directive, and action on musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial risks.¶¶
- Calls for recognition and compensation of informal caregivers, targeted strategies for underserved areas, and a dedicated funding window under the ESF+ and cohesion policy.¶¶¶
- Supports telemedicine, AI and digital tools as complements to in-person care, calls for digital skills training, and urges a Skills Academy on health data and use of the European Health Data Space.¶¶¶
- Calls for ethical international recruitment under the WHO Global Code, review of the Professional Qualifications Directive, and increased dedicated EU health funding in the 2028-2034 budget.¶¶¶
Who is affected
- Healthcare workers in the EU, including doctors, nurses, carers and pharmacists, who would gain staffing, pay and safety protections.¶¶¶
- Member States, which are asked to adopt national workforce strategies, safe staffing frameworks and incentives for underserved areas.¶¶¶
- Women healthcare workers, who face pay gaps, violence and unequal career progression that the resolution seeks to address.¶¶
- Informal caregivers, predominantly women, who would gain recognition, compensation and social protection.¶
- Underserved regions, including rural, island, remote and outermost areas, which would receive targeted funding and incentives.¶¶
Figures and deadlines
- Approximately 1.2 million doctors, nurses and midwives shortage in the EU in 2022.¶
- WHO expects a shortfall of 950 000 healthcare workers in the EU by 2030.¶
- 30 % of medical doctors and 18 % of nurses aged 55 or older.¶
- 3.6 % of people aged 16 or older could not access medical examination or treatment in 2024.¶
- Every euro invested in prevention can yield a return of EUR 14.¶
- Non-communicable diseases cost the EU over EUR 700 billion annually.¶
- Antimicrobial resistance costs EUR 11.7 billion in the EU each year.¶
- Women make up 78 % of healthcare workers in the EU and face a 24 percentage point pay gap.¶
Legal basis: Articles 4, 6, 9, 45-48, 53, 114, 121, 151, 152, 153, 165, 166, 168(1), 168(5) and 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.¶
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text and ¶ links to the paragraph it rests on. Check the text itself before relying on it.