Category: Activities

HOSPEEMNewsActivities
Projects Hospeem

Learning from Finland: Preparedness in the Healthcare Sector

On 10-11 September 2026 HOSPEEM organised a study visit to Local Government and County Employers (KT). As part of the EU-funded BRIDGES project, our first study visit in Helsinki, Finland, brought together healthcare employers from Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Latvia and Portugal to exchange experiences and practical approaches to preparedness.

KT’s CEO Henrika Nybondas-Kangas welcomed the participants and explained the current state of play on preparedness in Finland.

In her speech, HOSPEEM Secretary General Sylvie Slangen highlighted the importance of capacity-building among employers’ organisations and the exchange of good practices on the topic.

Overall, over 1.5 days, participants:

  • learned about the work of KT and the role of social dialogue in Finland;
  • visited Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) to learn more about preparedness in the Finnish healthcare system;
  • heard from the Wellbeing Services County of North Karelia about preparedness and the role of exercises in strengthening readiness in practice;
  • exchanged good practices and experiences with Portuguese Association of Private Hospitals (APHP) and Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR);
  • took part in a tour de table, with participants from Belgium and Latvia sharing their national perspectives and approaches to preparedness;
  • discussed the latest developments at EU level, with a particular focus on the EU Preparedness Union Strategy and its relevance for social partners in the hospital and healthcare sector.

The study visit provided a valuable opportunity to learn from Finland’s experience, share approaches across countries, and identify common challenges and opportunities for strengthening preparedness in healthcare.

A big thank you to our Finnish hosts and to all colleagues who contributed their expertise and openly shared their experiences. It was a great start to the BRIDGES study visits and an important step towards strengthening cooperation on building more resilient and prepared healthcare systems across Europe.

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Activities, News Hospeem

2025 : A year of impact

2025 has been a year of impact for HOSPEEM turning priorities into concrete action. HOSPEEM successfully concluded key achievements, included the updated Guidelines on Third-Party Violence and Harassment, the Joint Policy Orientation, and the Joint Work Programme.

2025 has also been a year of transition for HOSPEEM. It is a moment to reflect on the strong foundations built over many years, while ensuring the organisation is ready to respond to the evolving challenges facing Europe’s hospital and healthcare employers. These developments take place at a time of transformation for the healthcare sector, where evolving workforce needs and changing skill requirements are driving new approaches across Europe’s health systems.

Download the 2025 report

All annual HOSPEEM reports available here

Consultations, News Hospeem

HOSPEEM contributes to the public consultation on the right to stay

HOSPEEM has contributed to the call for evidence on the Right to Stay in June 2026. A credible Right to Stay Strategy must balance ambition with realism. Ensuring access to high-quality healthcare does not necessarily mean preserving all existing structures in their current form but rather enabling systems to adapt in ways that safeguard patient safety, improve outcomes and ensure long-term sustainability. HOSPEEM is part of the Freedom to Stay alliance.

Read the post on the EU website

Read the full contribution in pdf

News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Joint HOSPEEM–EPSU visit with DG EMPL Director-General Mario Nava to UZ Leuven Gasthuisberg

On 27 May, the Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), Mario Nava, visited the university hospital UZ Leuven Gasthuisberg. The visit was facilitated by the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) in the context of the European sectoral social dialogue in the hospital and healthcare sector.

The programme was organised by UZ Leuven Gasthuisberg, whose teams ensured a comprehensive and insightful visit. HOSPEEM and EPSU would like to express their appreciation to Gasthuisberg, its management, and the HR and communication teams for the excellent preparation and warm welcome, as well as to Zorgnet-Icuro, and to the local trade union representatives from ACV-CSC and BBTK-ABVV, for their contribution to the programme and exchanges.

The visit brought together representatives of the European Commission, social partners and UZ Leuven/KU Leuven for an exchange on the future of healthcare systems and healthcare work.

Discussions focused on social dialogue at hospital level, approaches to addressing labour shortages through recruitment, retention and working conditions, as well as skills development and training as key enablers for sustainable healthcare systems.

Participants also visited key clinical and training areas, including robotic cardiac surgery, the neonatal intensive care unit, and the STEPS skills centre, highlighting how innovation, advanced care delivery and structured skills training are integrated in daily hospital practice.
The visit provided an opportunity for social partners to engage with DG EMPL on shared priorities for the sector, including workforce sustainability, quality jobs, skills portability and the organisation of resilient healthcare services in a context of growing demand across the European Union.

The discussions underlined the importance of continued dialogue between European institutions, social partners and healthcare providers to support strong, resilient and well-functioning healthcare systems across the European Union.

Events, News, Project 2025-2027 on Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-Proofing Skills in Health, Projects Hospeem

HOSPEEM and EPSU host EU workshop in Prague on healthcare workforce challenges

EPSU and HOSPEEM brought together healthcare trade unions, employers, policymakers and experts in Prague on 4-5 June 2026 for the fourth workshop of the EU-funded project “Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-proofing Skills in Health”. The workshop focused on the ageing healthcare workforce and intra-EU mobility.

Participants discussed key challenges facing Europe’s health systems, including ongoing staff shortages, demographic change, evolving skills needs, and the retention of healthcare professionals. The exchanges highlighted a range of experiences and good practices from across Europe, with a focus on strengthening workforce planning, resilience and the sustainability of healthcare services.

The programme included high-level contributions from Adam Vojtěch, Minister of Health, and Dr Ladislav Švec, First Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic, who addressed the future challenges of human resources in healthcare. Ms Yana Andersen from the WHO Regional Office for Europe (Health Workforce and Service Delivery) and Ms Maren Hopfe from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Labour Governance and Sectoral Policies Department presented the state of play on the ageing of the healthcare workforce and the report on Health workforce migration in the WHO European Region.

Presentation by Dr. Ladislav Švec, First Deputy Minister of Health of the Czech Republic

The workshop also brought together representatives from social partner organisations and stakeholders from amongst others Sweden, Finland, Romania, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, who shared national and sectoral perspectives on workforce developments and policy responses.

EPSU and HOSPEEM would like to thank the Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Associations of the Czech Republic (UZS-CR) and the Trade Union of Health and Social Care Workers of the Czech Republic (OSZSP CR) for their hosting and support in organising the workshop.

Projects Hospeem

New EU-funded project on building a resilient healthcare system

BRIDGES is the EU-funded employers’ project on building a resilient healthcare system through exchange of good practices in digitalisation, preparedness, rural development and skills mix. HOSPEEM as a project coordinator together with KT (Finland), APHP (Portugal), HSE (Ireland), and SALAR (Sweden) as affiliated entities aim to foster cross-border learning among hospital employers, promote solutions to address labour and skills shortages and build resilient healthcare systems.

Four study visits to the premises of affiliated organisations will be organised during the project to facilitate the exchange of good practices among European countries in the areas of preparedness, rural healthcare development, digitalisation, and skill mix. These visits will provide participants with the opportunity to learn from practical experiences, explore innovative approaches, and discuss solutions to shared challenges across different healthcare systems. The project will be concluded by the final conference to provide main highlights of the study visits and enhance the capacity of the employers’ organisations through mutual learning on the national social dialogue and collective bargaining frameworks across Europe.

Projects Hospeem

Fourth Workshop of the Joint Project “Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-proofing Skills in Health”

HOSPEEM and EPSU invites you to the fourth in-person workshop of the joint project on the topic of Intra-EU mobility and Ageing of the Healthcare Workforce in Prague, Czechia.

This workshop will explore the challenges posed by the ageing healthcare workforce across Europe, including the retirement of a large proportion of experienced healthcare professionals, and discuss practices attracting, retaining, and supporting both senior and younger workers in the sector. It will also examine the impact of intra-EU mobility and migration on healthcare systems, considering factors such as skills development, and ethical recruitment practices. Through discussion and exchange of best practices from EPSU and HOSPEEM member organisations, the workshop aims to identify solutions that strengthen healthcare workforce, support migrant and mobile healthcare workers, and encourage healthcare professionals to remain in or return to their countries of origin.

 

Three o'clock 4 – 5 June 2026 (1,5 days)

PinHotel Olsanka, Táboritská 1000/23, 130 00 Praha 3-Žižkov, Czechia

The reimbursement for the flight and accommodation is available for the EU participants:

  • Please follow this link to calculate eligible travel costs
  • Maximum reimbursement for accommodation – 107 EUR/night (for up to 2 nights)

The interpretation will be provided for English, Czechia and 3 languages to be determined by the number of requests

Please register here

The registration deadline is 20 April 2026

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact o.horlach@hospeem.eu

Events, News, Project 2025-2027 on Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-Proofing Skills in Health, Projects Hospeem

HOSPEEM and EPSU workshop on digitalisation and future-proofing skills in Rome

The EU-funded TaSSEFSH project continued its work on addressing healthcare workforce challenges through a workshop held in Rome, focusing on digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and future-proofing skills in the health sector. The event gathered European and national stakeholders to exchange experiences on how healthcare systems can better respond to evolving workforce demands and service needs.

Key contributions from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) highlighted the Union of Skills initiative. Insights were also shared by EUREGHA and AGENAS, alongside presentations on the BeWell project and the JA HEROES initiative, both focusing on workforce planning and capacity building in healthcare systems and upskilling and reskilling on green and digital transition.

National social partners contributed practical examples of workforce  and skills development, drawing on experiences from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ukraine, and Georgia.

The workshop underlined the importance of cooperation between social partners. Participants agreed that sustained collaboration is essential to ensure healthcare professionals are equipped with the skills needed for future challenges and to support sustainable, high-quality healthcare systems across Europe.

The project report is available here.

Consultations Hospeem

HOSPEEM Contributes to the public consultations on skills portability initiative

Following the social partners’ hearing of 23 January 2026, HOSPEEM submitted its contribution to the consultation on the European Commission’s Skills Portability Initiative. It supports improved cross-border recognition and transparency of skills, aligned with national systems and without new administrative burdens. HOSPEEM stresses the importance of existing EU tools, knowledge exchange on recognition for third-country nationals, respect for national competence, and social partner involvement to address labour shortages and strengthen healthcare workforce mobility and preparedness.

Action 1  HOSPEEM contribution – also on EC website

Action 2 HOSPEEM contribution – also on the EC website

Action 3 HOSPEEM contribution – also on the EC website

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