CESI calls for investments in the health sector in all EU and neighbouring countries

For many years now, CESI has been advocating for sufficient investment, equipment and resources for the public health sector.

In the EU-28, the shortfall of health workers in the overall sector was estimated at 1.6 million in 2013 and is predicted to grow to 4.1 million by 2030.

The most important factors that condition nurse shortages relate to inadequate employment and working conditions which nurses face as well as to an ageing of the nursing workforce and of the general population.

Understaffing among nurses poses risks and real consequences for both nurses (in terms of stress, illness, absenteeism), patients (in terms of morbidity and mortality) and the sustainability of public finance and public health systems (in terms of long-term economic costs).

Following a CESIathome on the subject, the Presidium of CESI has now addressed the following demands to EU and national policy makers:

• the establishment of a target of a common average nurse-patient quota in the EU Member States.

• more sensitivity in the EU’s financial and economic governance system to allow Member States to finance this without being penalised by the Stability and Growth Pact.

• the review of the EU social legislation to allow for better and safer employment and working conditions for nurses, with a view to better staff attraction and retention in the sector.

• EU funding for social partners and trade unions for awareness-raising campaigns to raise the public appreciation of the profession of the nurse.
• a new of focus on EU cohesion policy, pre-accession assistance and neighbourhood policy to reduce push factors for nurses to seek employment in richer areas of the EU.

Klaus Heeger, CESI Secretary General underlined the urgent need for more medical staff but also the requirement to address staff shortages in a fair and sustainable way: “The times when qualified workforce was simply imported, and politicians celebrated themselves for it should be over. This is neither sustainable, nor fair. In addition to investments in the health sector in all EU and neighbouring countries, we need frames for ethical, sustainable and fair migration of the health sector workforce.”

Photo credits: Alberto Giuliani, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons