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HOSPEEM NEWS

Issue 4 - October 2018

EDITORIAL

Dear HOSPEEM reader,

The summer has brought some changes at HOSPEEM with the election of Evelyn Kozak (VKA - Germany) and John Delamere (HSE - Ireland) in the HOSPEEM Steering Committee as well as the election of Marta Branca as HOSPEEM Vice-Secretary General (ARAN – Italy) until the end of the mandate in 2019. The HOSPEEM board also met at the beginning of October to prepare the HOSPEEM statutory meetings that will take place in November.

The autumn will be a crucial moment in the EU annual cycle of economic policy coordination when priorities are set. In November the European Semester cycle starts with the publication of the Commission's Annual Growth Survey (AGS), the Alert Mechanism Report (AMR), the draft Joint Employment Report and recommendations. Health within the priorities of the European Semester is being shaped by the EU Members States but also by relevant stakeholders such as social partners.

Over the past year, with the invaluable contribution by its Members, HOSPEEM has conducted a follow-up on the Directive 2010/32/EU on the prevention from sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector. In the next months, members of HOSPEEM and EPSU will discuss on potential joint recommendations in the frame of the SSDC HS on 12 November 2018 also following a meeting with representatives from the European Commission in Luxembourg on 15 October 2018.

This newsletter and the HOSPEEM website have been conceived as interactive tools to facilitate the flow of communication from the EU level, to support the exchange of information between our members and to give your organisation’s voice a broader diffusion across Europe. Therefore, you are invited to send us your contributions for future issues.

Enjoy your reading !

Tjitte Alkema
Secretary General of HOSPEEM

HOSPEEM NEWS

HOSPEEM-EPSU Social Partner's Conference photos & videos

All the photos and videos of the EPSU-HOSPEEM Conference on Occupational Safety and Health “A sound mind in a sound body – taking care of those who take care of us” are available. This second conference of the HOSPEEM–EPSU project 2017-2018 on effective recruitment and retention policies took place in Vilnius on 23 and 24 May 2018.
The aim was to pursue and expand the social partners’ thematic focus on the prevention and reduction of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) and psychosocial risks and stress at work (PSRS@W). The conference brought together more than 100 participants from 19 countries and provided a forum for exchange on a number of social partner-based initiatives presented by HOSPEEM members and EPSU affiliates. All the materials including presentations, videos and photos are available online.

HOSPEEM Data privacy policy 2018

The HOSPEEM Data privacy policy has been released to comply with the privacy legislation and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

NEMS FROM MEMBERS

"ARAN was among the HOSPEEM founding members, participating fully in all HOSPEEM activities and enjoying their benefits, especially the exchanges of best practices and new projects, to develop capacity and competencies. Moreover, it has been very useful being involved in the social dialogue with the trade unions, to face together the different issues of mutual interest, such as lifelong learning, the ageing workforce, recruitment and retention, health and safety and so on. In particular, ARAN was a key player in the negotiations on “sharp injuries”, reaching a good agreement for both social partners, that became an EU Directive. ARAN now has enriched its participation in HOSPEEM by involving the national hospital association (FIASO) and a national research institute (INMI “Lazzaro Spallanzani – IRCCS), a true added value, thus improving the quality of its membership"

Marta Branca, ARAN, Italy

NVZ launches an online comparison platform for Dutch hospital care

Dutch hospitals have launched a new website with Hospital Quality Information: www.ziekenhuischeck.nl. The platform provides patients with insight into the quality of hospital care, such as patient experience ratings and treatment results by means of outcome indicators.
Patients can easily compare up to three hospitals, in order to make a well-informed decision to which hospital to go to. The website is initiated by the Dutch Hospital Association (NVZ).

NHS European Office latest update on UK-EU latest update on UK-EU withdrawal negotiations

The latest round of Brexit negotiations concluded on 31 August. The UK Government has published technical notices setting out how the UK plans to deal with a range of issues, including health, in the event that the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without an agreement. The UK government's technical notices are not intended to give guidance to NHS bodies, but each paper explains how current arrangements work.
The NHS European Office examines the papers in more details highlighting key points and areas of concern.

EU NEWS

The protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work: limit values

The European Commission has proposed to amend Directive 2004/37/EC by expanding its scope and by including and/or revising occupational exposure limit values for a number of cancer- or mutation-causing substances. On 11 October, the European Parliament and the Council came to an agreement on the Commission's second proposal to broaden the list of recognised cancer-causing chemicals in the workplace. The agreement will be submitted to the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee for approval. After confirming the agreement, it will be subject to a vote by the plenary of the European Parliament.

Informal meeting of EU health ministers – focus on medicines and investment in digital health

The security of supply of medicines and the use of modern electronic communication means in healthcare was discussed on 10 and 11 September in Vienna, Austria. The importance of digitalisation in the healthcare system was stressed. EU member states agreed to work closely with the services of the European Commission within the framework of the eHealth network to develop a guideline for targeted Europe-wide promotion and investment programmes in the eHealth sector. The aim is to make the existing infrastructure of thousands of health service providers fit for the future. The leaders agreed to a joint effort to draw up a catalogue of requirements, standards and formats for the development of a Europe-wide interoperable digital infrastructure for health service providers.

European Parliament proposal for a new directive on work-life balance

The European Parliament Employment Committee approved the draft report on Work-life balance for parents and carers in July. Three-way negotiations with the Commission and the Council started this September. This proposed directive has the ambition to lead to the repeal of the existing Framework Agreement on Parental Leave, made binding by Council Directive 2010/18/EU (the Parental Leave Directive). The highlights are the following: 10 working days paid paternity leave around the time of birth, stillbirth and adoption; Payment or allowance should be at least equivalent to 78% of the worker´s gross wage in the case of parental leave and carer's leave; Adaptable working patterns, including remote working.

Austrian Presidency priorities discussed in European Parliament

The Presidency would like to make progress on coordinating social security systems and on inter-institutional negotiations on work-life balance and health risks in the workplace as well as pursuing agreements on establishing a European Labour Authority and are looking forward to future negotiations on the European Social Fund Plus.

ATTENDED EVENTS

12/10/2018: Improving the monitoring of health workforce and health workforce migration workshop, the International Platform on Health Worker Mobility, organised by ILO, OECD, WHO, Paris, France.
The Workshop discussed progress, persisting challenges, innovation and next steps in monitoring trends in health workforce and health workforce migration across OECD countries and globally; it highlighted progress towards the establishment of an International Data Exchange on Health Workforce, and discussed work underway to monitor the growing internationalisation in health workforce education and training, and some of its causes and consequences.

08/10/2018: EPSU/ETUCE Project & Conference "Public Services and European Semester", Brussels, Belgium.
The aim of the conference is to provide a first opportunity to discuss the impact of the European Semester on public services including the hospital sector and the extent to which national social partners and the European sectoral committees have been able to play a role in the process at both national and European level. The meeting was attended by Vice-Secretary General Marta Branca: “The lesson learned from today is that we have to work harder to involve social partners on the national level. Employers agree with the importance of social dialogue as a strong instrument which we don’t want to free ourselves from and are looking forward to working on this together with the Trade Unions.”

13-14/09/2018: International Platform on Health Worker Mobility, organised by the WHO, ILO, OECD, Geneva, Switzerland
During the meeting, which was attended by more than 60 representatives from National Governments, International Agencies and Civil Societies, participants discussed on health worker migration and mobility, including education, to broader global discussions on migration as well as on policy measures implementation challenges, and identifying options for stakeholders to advance policy and governance of labour mobility in the health sector. HOSPEEM disseminated information on the Sectoral Social Partner initiatives, such as the Code of Conduct for Ethical Recruitment and Retention and members projects.

FUTURE EVENTS

SAVE the DATE!

HOSPEEM events
- 13/11/2018: HOSPEEM Steering Committee/General Assembly, Brussels
HOSPEEM-EPSU events
- 12/11/2018: Sectoral Social Dialogue Plenary Meeting 2018, Brussels
- 12/11/2018: HOSPEEM-EPSU Project 2017-2018 meeting of the Steering Group 1 (CPD) & 2 (OSH)

Other events:
- 28/11/2018: 11th European Public Health Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 7-9/11/2018: 1st Italian Health Management Convention organised by FIASO, Rome, Italy
- 29-30/10/2018: Support for the health workforce planning and forecasting expert network (SEPEN) “Dialogue on key health workforce planning data definitions” , Budapest, Hungary
- 24-25/10/2018: Eurofound Stakeholders Meeting “capacity-building for effective social dialogue”, Brussels, Belgium
- 24/10/2018: Federation of European Social Employers and EPSU, 2nd Thematic Meeting – Digitalisation in Social Services: defining opportunities for social partners, barriers and how to prepare them for the future.
- 22-26/10/2018: EU-OSHA European Week for Safety and Health at Work 2018
- 18/10/2018: Implementing outcomes-based healthcare organised by EFPIA, Brussel, Belgium
- 17/10/2018: Eurofound Conference “Working conditions in different sectors and occupations”, Brussel, Belgium
- 16/10/2018: Eurofound Conference "Work-life balance: is it all about work?", Brussels, Belgium

PUBLICATIONS

EU Directive 2018/958 of the European Parliament and of the Council on a proportionality test before adoption of new regulation of professions

The aim of this legislative resolution is to establish rules for proportionality assessments to be conducted by Member States before the introduction of new, or the amendment of existing, professional regulations. The date for entry into force is the 18 July 2018. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 30 July 2020. HOSPEEM has been actively involved in calling for the exclusion of healthcare professions in this Directive.

EC Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review

The Commission has published the 2018 edition of its yearly Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review. This year's edition focuses on the changing world of work and its employment and social implications. According to this review, technological transformation, global competition forces, and demographic change will continue to affect how people work, consume and live.

EC study of national policies 2018 - Challenges in long-term care in Europe

This Synthesis Report produced by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) examines national 35 national long-term care arrangements for the elderly population. It analyses the four main challenges which are common to all European countries: the access and adequacy of long-term care provision, the quality of formal home care as well as residential services, the employment of informal carers, and the financial sustainability of national long-term care systems. The country reports can be accessed here.

A Eurofound review of data and policy responses in the EU on burnout in the workplace

The report presents a comparative review of the existing data and policy responses on burnout answering questions on its incidence, its classification (disease or syndrome) and its work-related determinants. It further compares how the issue has been addressed by social partners and in public policy in each country.

EU OSHA report on the management of psychosocial risks in European workplaces (ESENER 2)

This report examines barriers to and drivers of workplace psychosocial risk management, and how this is influenced by different national and organisational contexts. Based on the findings of a quantitative analysis of EU-OSHA European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER-2) data combined with other country-specific data, it shows that the national context — culture, economy and occupational safety and health initiatives by social partners — is related to the level of psychosocial risk management in the workplace.

EC Implementation Report to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of Directive 2011/24/EU on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare

The report (COM/2018/651 final) highlights that since the adoption of the Directive, no further European court rulings were needed to ensure these rights. Nevertheless, patient mobility and its financial dimensions within the EU remain relatively low and the Cross-border Healthcare Directive has not resulted in a major budgetary impact on the sustainability of the national health systems. The report also shows that patients are increasingly aware of their rights under the Directive.

SPEEED Final report – Social Partner Engagement and Effectiveness in European Dialogue

As European level actor, HOSPEEM was interviewed as representatives for the sectoral employer organisation for the hospital sector. The study was also presented in form of a dissemination workshop at the SSDC HS Working Group 2 / 2018.

WHO toolkit for a sustainable health workforce in the WHO European Region

The toolkit includes a case study of the HOSPEEM-EPSU Code of Conduct on Ethical Cross-Border Recruitment and Retention as well as the Joint Declaration on Continuing Professional Development

68th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, Rome

Health ministers and high-level representatives of the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region, as well as civil societies, took part in the 68th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Rome. Documents can be downloaded here.

International Centre of Nurse Migration Policy Brief: Nurse Retention

The policy brief focuses on identifying which policies are effective in keeping nurses in work and practice, with the aim of informing National Nursing Associations (NNAs) and policymakers.
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