When you are ill or injured, you want to receive the medical care you need. This requires that you have access to skilled health workers who are enabled to do their job well. Unfortunately, this is not a given everywhere in the European Union. That is why, in a new white paper, the Pillars of Health coalition – with Wemos as lead organization – call on all EU Member States to move away from international competition for health workers, and instead take united action to enable health workers across Europe to deliver high-quality healthcare to EU citizens.
With our white paper, we:
- present findings and conclusions of our research on health worker mobility and migration in the European Union;
- provide inspiration for occasions where EU level stakeholders discuss matters related to access to healthcare in general and access to health workers in particular, in the EU context. For example, the ongoing discussions on the future of the European Health Union; conferences in the context of the current Belgian EU Presidency, and meetings with (new) Members of European Parliament, in the run-up to and after the European Parliament elections on 6 June 2024.
Our research shows that health workers in particular from countries in Eastern and Southern Europe are leaving for other, richer parts of Europe, in search of e.g. better working conditions and career prospects. The countries they leave behind are left with fewer health workers. Furthermore, we see that the so-called destination countries are unable to educate, recruit and retain sufficient health workers domestically.
