EU Observatory publication on health professionals’ mobility and health systems

Especially since the EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007, the mobility patterns of health professionals and their impacts on health systems’ performance, as well as on the quality of healthcare services, has been a key issue.

This new book - Health professional mobility and health systems. Evidence from 17 European countries - by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (edited by Wismar et al.) presents research on the gaps in knowledge about the numbers, trends, effects and policy responses to this dynamic situation.

The research was conducted within the framework of the European Commission’s Health PROMeTHEUS project with the aim of offering evidence of the nature and extent of health professionals’ mobility in the EU.

Recently the topic has once again taken centre stage due to the ongoing modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive (DIR 36) (see EPHA’s response to the Green Paper consultation on the revision of DIR 36, as well as the Joint Statement with the European Patients’ Forum, the European Women’s League and the European Consumers’ Organisation on maintaining health professionals’ minimum training and education standards).