Tag: Recruitment and retention

HOSPEEMNewsRecruitment and retention
Project 2025-2027 on Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-Proofing Skills in Health, Projects, Social Dialogue Hospeem

HOSPEEM-EPSU Joint Project on Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-Proofing Skills in Health

Start Date: 01 April 2025

Duration: 24 Months

Description of the project:

Tackling Staff Shortages and Ensuring Future-Proofing Skills in Health (TaSSEFSH) is a joint project between the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM), representing at European level national employers’ organisations in the hospital and healthcare sector.

The aim is to collect and exchange good practices from social partners across Europe that address the massive challenges posed by increasing staff shortages that most health providers face. They are finding it difficult to recruit new staff and to retain skilled and experienced workers. The demographic trends in most countries are driving increased demand at the same time as large cohort of health workers come up for retirement.  Understanding the different dynamics and consequences of labour shortages and future-proofing skills in the hospital and healthcare sector at play matters across Europe to deliver quality care, now and in the next decennia.  The evolving landscape of the healthcare sector requires support for skills, training and education.

Through a series of six meetings involving trade unions and employers from across Europe the project will explore the various factors behind labour and skills shortages and exchange good practices. An external consultant will be contracted to follow the project, report on all the meetings and draft a final briefing that will summarise the key debates and focus on the potential solutions.

The discussions and debates will cover:

  • Ageing of the healthcare workforce: In 11 countries of the European region, a significant demographic shift is imminent as at least 40% of doctors are aged over 55 and are expected to retire in the coming decade. The European Commission Ageing Report 2021 highlights Italy as having the highest participation rate among older population in 2019 with one of the highest percentages of health workers aged 50 and above at 42%, compared to the European average of 36%. The meeting will debate how to attract and retain experienced healthcare workforce while fostering the recruitment of young healthcare professionals. It will include case studies provided by EPSU and HOSPEEM member organisations.
  • Intra-EU mobility and migration: The free movement of labour stands as an achievement of the European Union, aligning with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights promoting labour mobility across borders. While some countries experience a negative impact from labour migration, others benefit from the enhanced workforce mobility and cross-border collaboration. Factors such as social benefits, level of pay, working conditions, skills development can play pivotal roles in shaping the healthcare workforce landscape. Additionally, language proficiency serves as a compelling incentive, as evidenced by countries like Ireland leveraging language requirements to attract healthcare professionals. Despite investing in training their health workforce, some countries, especially in Eastern and Central Europe experience staff shortages due to healthcare workers deciding to move to another country. EPSU and HOSPEEM agreed on guidelines for ethical cross-border recruitment in 2008 and this project will contribute to the renewal of the commitment of social partners to promote, guarantee and defend decent recruitment and working conditions for workers from and outside the EU. The workshop will explore what can be done to inspire workers to stay in their country of origin and to support migrant workers and intra- EU mobile workers in receiving countries.
  • Temporary work agencies: In order to deal with staff shortages EU policymakers need to consider the role of a diverse workforce, including private employment agencies that have placed 12.4 million people in labour markets in Europe (11.2 million participated through temporary agency work which had implications for the labour market). Many EU Member States find themselves compelled to use the services of temporary work agencies and thus often compensate for the staff shortages in hospitals. Although temporary work agencies can improve the situation with limited work capacity of healthcare professionals, some countries are experiencing a situation in which companies are exploiting the scarcity of healthcare profiles to establish profitable businesses. For instance, temporary staffing companies actively recruit nurses who are currently employed on permanent contracts, offering them additional benefits on top of their current salary, and allowing them to demand more regarding their schedules. This leads to unequal salary and working conditions between permanent and temporary staff in the workplace. The workshop will consider how the health care sector can become more resilient and make relations with the temporary work agencies more balanced again and what alternatives can be provided by the health sector.
  • Digitalisation: During the pandemic digitalisation helped reduce exposure to the virus and ease administrative burdens. The Social Partners underline that digitalisation will never replace human care delivery. Instead, it can lighten the workload, which can create more time for effective and quality care. The workshop will focus on how digitalisation and AI can softenstaff shortages and support health staff in doing their job while ensuring the protection of workers and patients.
  • Future-proofing skills and career pathways: Future-proofing skills and career pathways for the healthcare workforce is crucial in order to navigate in evolving landscape of the sector. The EU action plan on Labour and Skills shortages includes support for skills, training and education as one of the key policy areas to tackle staff shortages. Emphasising continuous learning and developing soft skills can improve patient-centred care and create a pool of well-trained and motivated healthcare workforce. The corresponding Joint Declaration on Continuous Professional Development and Life-long Learning signed by HOSPEEM and EPSU in 2016 acknowledges the connection between investments in LLL and CPD and improving the quality of training, which in turn improves the attractiveness of the sector.
  • Practical solutions in collective bargaining: Collective bargaining addresses the multifaceted challenges facing the healthcare workforce. Practical solutions can be identified and implemented to improve working conditions and enhance job satisfaction. The workshop will consider how social partners can design innovative solution to address staff shortages through collective agreements.
  • Work-life balance: The updated Framework of Action on Recruitment and Retention agreed between EPSU and HOSPEEM called for Member States to develop supporting infrastructures to facilitate work- life balance in a 24/7 service delivery context. It also said that to facilitate the full participation of men and women in the labour market, healthcare employers and social partners should take measures and develop policies that will improve workers’ work-life balance. The workshop will discuss the measures that social partners and governments have introduced to increase retention of personnel.
  • Mental health: The pandemic put more stress on health workers, with many of them reporting burnouts or considering leaving the sector. The sector is not resilient with a health workforce reporting stress overload. This workshop will exchange on good examples on mental health support for healthcare workforce and what impact it has on staff retention.
Harnessing Talent in Europe's Regions, News Hospeem

HOSPEEM participates in the panel discussion during European Week of Regions

On 10 October 2024, Olena Horlach represented HOSPEEM at a panel discussion organized by the European Committee of the Regions’ Interregional Group on Health and Well-being, the European CoR’s Commission for Natural Resources (NAT), and EUREGHA – the reference network for European Regional and Local Health Authorities on the topic of “Strengthening Europe’s Healthcare Workforce: Attracting and retaining talent in a regional context” as part of the European Week of Regions.

Staff shortages, working conditions, and skills mismatches are having a significant impact on access to care and performance of healthcare system. Attracting and retaining talent across Europe’s regions is a key strategy to address this issue. This interactive session explored the difficulties and potential solutions for strengthening Europe’s healthcare workforce and increasing the sector’s attractiveness, in line with existing EU initiatives such as the Harnessing Talent Platform and the Pact for Skills.

HOSPEEM acknowledged that the main challenges include ageing population, work migration and working conditions amongst others. The EPSU-HOSPEEM Updated Framework of Action on Recruitment and Retention examines various remedies to these issues, while considering the 24/7 operational nature of the healthcare sector. Meanwhile, the EPSU-HOSPEEM Code of Conduct on Ethical Recruitment and Retention enables social partners in the hospital and healthcare sector address inequalities and promote ethical recruitment practices at European, national, regional and local level.

10 October 2024, 1143: Strengthening Europe’s Healthcare Workforce: Attracting and retaining talent in a regional context
Belgium – Brussels – October 2024
© European Union / John Thys
Activities, FINANCE 4 EPSR, Projects Hospeem

Finance for the European Pillar of Social Rights (Finance4EPSR)

Project Description

Better non-financial reporting on social aspects has the potential to increase investments flows towards economic activities with positive social outcomes as recognised in the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan. In this regard, there is a huge untapped potential of the providers of services of general interest, as there is an unbalanced assessment of the impact of the non-financial disclosure requirements on the SGIs and public services providers, especially at the local level, compared to the big enterprises from the private sector.

Through the ‘Finance for the European Pillar of Social Rights’ project financed by the European Commission, SGI Europe and the project partners HOSPEEM and HEAG will aim to develop a methodology for guiding the non-financial reporting about social objectives to foster SGIs contributions towards the implementation of the EPSR, as well as to deepen the knowledge on the practical impact of a Social Taxonomy into the business life of enterprises delivering services of general interest. The project will create a capacity building framework which aims to unlock SGIs potential to further contribute to the EPSR’s objectives using sustainable finance tools. The guiding methodology will help SGI providers identify their activities in line with sustainable finance requirements and empower them in the interactions with investors aiming for social investments in key sectors such as healthcare, transport and energy.

‘Finance for the European Pillar of Social Rights’ Background

The European Union is in a complex social and economic recovery context following the COVID-19 pandemic, heavily amplified by the increase in energy prices and high inflation. Services of general interest represent the backbone of the European social market economy, are key players in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, as well as in the green and digital transition and, since the beginning of the pandemic, have demonstrated their central role in the resilience of the EU social-economic system.

Many SGIs are indeed providers of services of general interest to local entities and, while operating increasingly in competition under market rules, have to maintain a wider social responsibility towards the citizens they serve. However, in most cases, SGIs lack the necessary knowledge and experience to attract sustainable finance. This is mainly caused by an unbalanced assessment of the impact of the non-financial disclosure requirements on the SGIs and public services providers, especially at the local level, compared to the big enterprises from the private sector. This adds to a general lack of awareness and guidelines dedicated to SGI providers, including tailored non-financial reporting mechanisms, operational capacity and technical expertise to implement European sustainability benchmarks, and dedicated labels for SGI and public services providers. This scenario causes SGIs’ inability to attract private and socially sustainable investments and an overall lack of social investments in critical sectors such as healthcare, housing, transport or energy.

This is why SGI Europe and the project Partners, HOSPEEM and HEAG, aim to develop a methodology for guiding the non-financial reporting about social objectives as a critical goal to foster SGIs’ contributions towards implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. In parallel, the project also aims to deepen the knowledge of the practical impact of a Social Taxonomy on the business life of enterprises delivering services of general interest. In this regard, the project focuses on a limited number of sectors essential for realising social rights, such as access to healthcare and housing, and improving the accessibility and availability of basic economic infrastructure and services such as clean electricity and water. Hospitals and the healthcare sector are critical infrastructure across the EU and have faced different challenges before the pandemic, stressing the need for regular and substantive investments. Consequently, testing the implementation of the Social Taxonomy is interesting for sectoral employers to understand and experiment with its implementation to ensure that (a) social taxonomy can be correctly applied to the benefit of all and (b) more potential investors can be identified.

Project Survey

News Hospeem

Marta Branca at the Eurofound/ILO event on job quality for essential workers

On the occasion of the publication of the Eurofound policy brief on essential workers, HOSPEEM Secretary General Marta Branca participated in the social partner panel hosted by Eurofound and ILO, on 10 October 2023. She emphasized the importance of the developing Social Dialogue to address issues such as staff shortages, mental health and attractiveness of jobs in the healthcare sector.

European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit highlighted the importance of key workers. The presentation of the ILO and Eurofound experts pointed out the challenges and possible solutions across the sectors of essential workers. At the beginning of the year HOSPEEM participated in the interview for the Eurofound policy brief. Read more. 

The Eurofound policy brief

ILO Report World Employment and Social Outlook 2023: The value of essential work

News Hospeem

HOSPEEM October Newsletter is published

In this October 2022 Newsletter edition, you will read about the newly HOSPEEM-EPSU updated Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention, as the social partners are encouraging initiatives across Europe to strengthen the health workforce.

You will find also more information on:

  • EU Social Partners Cross-ectoral Work Programme 2022-2024
  • EC European Care Strategy
  • Prevention of third-party violence and harassment in the heath sector
  • Upskilling and reskilling the European healthcare workforce
  • International recruitment of health staff (UK)
  • Guidance to access health data (DK)

This newsletter also includes events and publications relevant for hospital employers:

4 October 2022: HOSPEEM Newsletter 2022 – Issue 3

Events, News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

Social Partners in hospital and healthcare sign framework for the future of the sector

PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 1st June 2022

Yesterday, the EU sectoral social partners in the hospital and healthcare sector, the European Public Services Union (EPSU) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM), signed the updated Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention (FoA R&R).

The original text was over a decade old; the revised text now better reflects the changes Europe’s health services have undergone in recent years.

Marta Branca, Secretary General of HOSPEEM, says: “Health staff shortages continue to be an issue for the hospital and healthcare sector across Europe. With the updated Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention, we social partners re-commit to initiatives that can strengthen the resilience of the health workforce.”

Jan Willem Goudriaan, General Secretary of EPSU, says: “The COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of adequate workforce levels and protection from Psychosocial Risks at work. In the updated Framework of Actions, we underline that!  For, us workforce planning mechanisms must take present and future needs into account to ensure that an adequate number of staff with the requisite skills are available in the right place at the right time.”

The updated FoA includes aspects related to COVID-19, work-life balance, gender equality and digitalisation, focusing on the increasing Occupational Health and Safety issues which are important for health workers. These include psycho-social risks and stress, carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances (Hazardous Medicinal Products), musculoskeletal diseases and thirdparty violence.

Social partners are calling to urgently strengthen public health services in order to adequately deliver quality care, ensure equal access and make these services more resilient towards future health emergencies.

They also call on Member States and the European Commission to support social partners in  sectoral social dialogue and  collective bargaining processes, in particular in Southern and Eastern Europe, within the framework of the ongoing Social Dialogue review process of the European Commission.

The updated text stresses social partners’ commitment to strengthen the attractiveness of the sector and to support a rights-based approach for recruiting migrant workers.

It also includes references to existing initiatives for retention, e.g., an active ageing policy and addressing occupational safety and health risk factors together. The signatories also emphasise that social partners must be involved in workforce planning (worker’s needs, skills needs and skills mix) on all levels. The new framework of actions promotes diversity and gender equality in the workforce to reflect the diversity of the society it cares for.

For more information contact:  Leonie Martin, HOSPEEM or Pablo Sanchez, EPSU 

Notes to editors:

About the Framework on Actions on Recruitment and Retention

The initial Framework of Actions was adopted on 17 December 2010. Following a first implementation report in 2016, social partners have been negotiating an updated version between 2021 and 2022. The actions include supporting the recruitment and retention of workers in the hospital sector, improving work organization, developing, and implementing workforce planning mechanism, encouraging diversity and gender equality, continuous professional development for all workers in the sector, and achieving the safest possible working environment.

HOSPEEM and EPSU participate in the European Social Dialogue as the recognised European Social Partners in the Hospital and Healthcare Sector since 2006. A range of joint documents (declarations, code of conduct, framework of actions, framework agreements) have been adopted and multiple projects and activities have been successfully completed ever since.

European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association https://hospeem.org/

European Federation of Public Service Unions www.epsu.org

Press Release in .pdf

*** EPSU also have published an article ***

Activities, News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

HOSPEEM-EPSU Framework of Actions “Recruitment and retention”

HOSPEEM and EPSU signed the updated Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention (FoA R&R) on 31 May 2022 (Read Press Release). The initial Framework of Actions was adopted on 17 December 2010. Following a first implementation report in 2016, social partners have been negotiating an updated version of the Framework of Actions between 2021 and 2022.

Staff recruitment and retention are key issues in hospitals and healthcare. This agreement constitutes an important basis for social partners at European and national level to develop concrete action to tackle staff shortages and qualification needs now and in the future.

The key topics of the framework of actions are:

  • supporting the recruitment and retention of workers;
  • improving work organisation;
  • developing and implementing workforce-planning mechanisms;
  • encouraging diversity and gender equality in the health workforce;
  • promoting initial training, lifelong learning and continuous professional development;
  • achieving the safest possible working environment.

Donwload the 2022 updated framework of actions: EN
Download the 2010 framework of actions: EN, FR, DE, ES, SV, BG, CZ, FIN, IT, PL

A first implementation report was published in 2016: EN

Several presentations were given in 2014 about the actions taken by social partners in the following countries:

Mechanisms to access the labour market: jobs for the future and generation contract (Les dispositifs d’insertion: les emplois d’avenir et le contrat de génération), Olga Ville and Sylvie Amzaleg FEHAP / HOSPEEM France, 1 October 2014
The response of NHS Employers to current retention challenges faced by NHS England, Steven Weeks, NHS Employers / HOSPEEM UK, 1 October 2014
The recent challenges for the recruitment and retention of workers in the hospital sector in Italy and the response of the Italian government, Marta Branca and Elvira Gentile, ARAN / HOSPEEM Italy, 1 October 2014
Challenges in the leadership in health and social sector, Kirsi Sillanpää, Tehy / EPSU Finland, 1 October 2014
Austrian joint contribution on follow-up to HOSPEEM-EPSU Framework of Actions, Ulrike Neuhauser, KAV / HOSPEEM Austria, Karl Preterebner and Willibald Steinkellner, GdG-KMSfB and Vida / EPSU Austria, 1 October 2014
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for nurses and midwives in Cyprus, Zoyia Antoniou, PASYDY / EPSU Cyprus, 25 June, 2014

Further material and information provided by HOSPEEM member:

NHS:

Recruitment of young people via employment programmes
Retaining staff through good employment practices
Apprenticeship and traineeship programmes
Ageing workforce
“Nurse Back to Practice” programme
Social partnership forum
(Data on trends staff numbers in the NHS can be found via the Health and Social Care Information Centre monthly statistics)

CLAE:
Longer careers with the job life cycle model – guide to designing an age plan

*** Read 2022 Press Release – Read 2010 Press release ***

Activities Hospeem

NHS Employers and HOSPEEM to speak on Ethical international recruitment of skilled workers in the healthcare sector 

On 21 April 2021, HOSPEEM’s UK member, together with the UK Department of Health and Social Care, the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, will speak on Ethical international recruitment of skilled workers in the healthcare sector online seminar series hosted by the German institute EBB Bildung.

Like many other countries worldwide, Germany is affected by a shortage of skilled labour, especially in the healthcare sector. As a result, healthcare facilities, employers, and agencies aim to close the skills gap by recruiting international skilled workers, mostly from lower-income countries. Simultaneously, the outflow of skilled workers impacts the economies of these countries of origin with already fragile health systems. Regardless of the disparities that arisen, health worker migration has increased over the past decades. How could these inequalities be addressed, knowing that migrants belong to the most vulnerable groups on the job market, especially in the healthcare sector? Which instruments are needed to guarantee sustainable and ethical recruitment practices from abroad and equal rights and ethical treatment of skilled workers in their new workplace?

To address these challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel in 2010.

How a Global Code finds implementation on the European, national, local level and then workplace level will focus on the IQ online-seminar. Altogether, the IQ online-seminar will allow attendees to understand how several international ethical recruitment codes are implemented on different policy levels. Finally, as a practical example, King’s College Hospital London will present their international recruitment practices.

Speakers: 
The webinar concept note is available in English – EN and German – DE

Please register via mail by 16 April 2021 at hospeem@hospeem.eu.

News Hospeem

Commitment to the WHO Charter on Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety

Brussels, 16 November

HOSPEEM expresses its commitment to the World Health Organizations’ Charter on Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety. We agree that the health, safety, and well-being of health workers is a prerequisite for an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides the already mentioned key measures, HOSPEEM commits to the following:

1. Establish synergies between health worker safety and patient safety policies and strategies.

Aim to ensure the health workers’ safety when implementing the HOSPEEM-EPSU Joint Declaration on CPD and LLL for All Health Workers in the EU, which has been adopted in 2016.

2. Develop and implement national programmes for better occupational health and safety of health workers.

Updating the HOSPEEM-EPSU Framework of Actions on Recruitment and Retention (2010) with lessons’ learnt from COVID-19 and previous joint projects on occupational safety and health.

3. Protect health workers from violence in the workplace.

Promote the implementation of the Multi-sectoral guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work, signed in 2010 and reaffirmed in 2020.

4. Improve mental health and psychological well-being of the health workforce.

Collect lessons learnt from national sectoral social partners in the hospital sector in the context of COVID-19 and create space for the exchange of good practices on improving mental health and the psychological well-being of the health workforce.

5. Protect health workers from physical and biological hazards.

Monitoring the developments of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive 2004/37/EC concerning the inclusion of hazardous medicinal products and cytotoxic substances as well as the development of non-binding measures in this regard.

Active participation as Official Campaign Partner in the EU-OSHA Healthy Workplace Campaign Lighten the Load (2020-2022).

Promoting the implementation of the Medical Sharps Directive 2010/32/EU in the European Member States by strengthening synergies with other relevant stakeholders.

Aim to ensure availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), relevant to the roles and tasks performed, in adequate quantity, of appropriate fit and acceptable quality.

Download the HOSPEEM committment to the WHOs’ Charter on Health Worker Safety (Pdf)

Nb: WHO invites all Member States, intergovernmental organizations, international organizations and relevant stakeholders to support and endorse this charter by signing up.

WHO technical resources – useful links:

Image credits: Courtesy of the World Health Organisation, 2020

Activities, News, Social Dialogue Hospeem

HOSPEEM-EPSU Joint Work Programme 2020-2023 for the European Sectoral Social Dialogue in the Hospital Sector

In December 2019, the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector (SSDC-HS), HOSPEEM and EPSU reached a final agreement of the Joint Work-Programme 2020-2022.

In November 2021 at the plenary meeting of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee, HOSPEEM and EPSU extended the Work Programme until 2023.

It is structured around four major thematic priorities, i.e Occupational Safety and health, recruitment and retention of the health workforce,  Continuing Professional Development and Life-Long Learning, European/ EU-level healthcare policy. Each sub-theme is presented with specific objectives, deliverables and a timeline.

PDF - 304.4 koDownload the Joint Work Programme 2020-2022- EN

PDF - 304.4 koDownload the Joint Work Programme 2020-2022 – streamlined version – EN

PDF - 304.4 koDownload the extended Joint Work Programme 2020-2023 – EN

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