BeWell project final conference: Upskilling Europe's health care workers

The conference brought together representatives of health workforce stakeholders, EU institutions, social partners, professional organisations, training providers and project partners to discuss the future of health workforce skills in Europe.

Moderated by Dr. Matthias Wismar, Programme Manager at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and Natalia Allegretti, Senior International Project Manager at Global Health Connector, the event focused on three key themes: Europe’s health workforce at a turning point, building skills intelligence for action, and shaping the future of health workforce skills through the BeWell Skills Strategy.

The programme opened with contributions from Federica Margheri, BeWell project coordinator at the European Health Management Association, alongside representatives of the European Commission, including Dr. Petronille Bogaert from DG SANTE and Sonia de Melo Xavier from European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL).

Sessions throughout the day presented the project’s main outcomes, including findings on skills intelligence, competence matrices, training programmes, pilot activities and the BeWell Skills Strategy. Panel discussions explored how the strategy can respond to the needs of Europe’s health workforce and how it can be implemented through multistakeholder cooperation.

The conference also featured testimonials from training participants and a showcase of related skills initiatives across Europe, including AMR-EDUCare, H-PASS, JA HEROES, XiA and BRIGHTskills.

Over the course of its four years, the BeWell project delivered a number of important outcomes and policy tools aimed at supporting the upskilling and reskilling of Europe’s health workforce. Among the project’s key deliverables were:

• Skills Strategy, establishing a strategic framework for future health workforce skills development in Europe;
• Skills Monitor, a web-based tool that captures and facilitates comparative analysis on digital and green skills training programmes in Europe and other countries.
• Competence Matrix, a simple and organized way to define and assess one’s key skills needs to succeed in today’s fast-changing, digital, and sustainable job market.

As a project partner, CESI welcomed the opportunity to contribute to this important European initiative and to the broader discussion on equipping the healthcare workforce with the green and digital skills needed for the future. The final conference underlined the importance of continued investment in training, skills intelligence, social dialogue and cooperation between public authorities, employers, professional organisations and workers’ representatives.

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