Health Rights and Patients

EPHA Briefing on Cross-border Patient Rights Directive

The Directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare was finally adopted in March 2011, following two and a half years of deliberations. It is widely regarded as the first genuine example of EU legislation specifically in the area of healthcare services, which are traditionally a Member State competence. EPHA has produced a briefing that explains the implications of this important instrument. Background The Crossborder Patients’ Rights Directive (...)

Active & Healthy Ageing Partnership releases Strategic Implementation Plan

On 7 November 2011, the Steering Group of the pilot European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing released its final Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP), outlining the priority actions to be launched in order to tackle the challenge of an increasingly ageing European society. In order to reach the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing’s goal of adding two healthy life years by 2020, the Strategic Implementation Plan focuses on three main areas of (...)

HOPE report on better health strategies in EU

The European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE) has published a new report entitled ’’Better health - A shared challenge for hospitals and primary health care’’, which looks at strategies and means adopted in EU countries to improve the health of patients through better coordination between different levels of healthcare. The HOPE report ’’Better health - A shared challenge for hospitals and primary health care’’ published on 8 (...)

Working Time Directive: Towards a workable compromise? Views of the Royal College of Physicians

The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) has introduced a number of restrictions that have been criticised in the UK and in other European countries, especially regarding doctors. The European Commission is in the process of consulting amongst social partners - i.e. trade unions and employers - to gauge their acceptance of a revised Directive. As explained in previous EPHA articles, the Working Time Directive limits the number of hours that doctors are allowed to work over an average (...)

EPHA Briefing on WHO Global Code on International Recruitment of Health Personnel

On 21 May 2010, the World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel to mitigate the ongoing problem of migration of qualified health professionals. EPHA has developed a briefing on the WHO Code, on its implementation at EU and Member States level and on the challenges that are faced in this area. EPHA also makes recommendations on how the Code can be implemented. So far little tangible progress has been reported by the EU (...)

European Commission revised proposal on Information to Patients published

The European Commission adopted revised proposals on ’Information to Patients, a legislative procedure that seeks to frame what information people can receive on prescription-only medicines, by whom and how. The European Commission revised its 2008 proposals to respond to European parliament requests and strong concerns from within the Council (ie Ministers). The public health community also expressed a strong opposition to the proposals at the time. According to the European (...)

Ireland and Greece under EU fire for excessive working time for doctors

The European Commission has decided to launch an ’infringement procedure’ against Ireland and Greece for not complying with the EU rules limiting working time for doctors in health services. If both countries do not adapt their legislation, they will be brought up to the European Court of Justice. After having sent letters of formal notice, the European Commission has decided to take the matter further with a ’reasoned opinion’ for not complying with the (...)

EU Observatory publication on health professionals’ mobility and health systems

The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies has released a publication presenting evidence from 17 European countries about the mobility of health professionals. This can serve as evidence in the current debates on the issue. 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 (...)

First EU Single Market Forum impacts on professional qualifications and public procurement

The Single Market Forum held in Cracow on 2-4 October dealt with a number of health system issues that EPHA has been actively involved in - resulting in a declaration which echoes most of EPHA’s viewpoints. Organised jointly by the European Parliament, the Polish Presidency and the European Commission, the first Single Market Forum (SMF) was held in Cracow, Poland on 2-4 October 2011. Prior to the start of the Single Market Forum and in the light of these discussions, EPHA had (...)

Working Group on Health Professionals

Please find below the agenda and minutes of EPHA’s Working Group on Health Professionals, bringing together experts representing, amongst others, medical, pharmacy, nursing, and CAM associations, as well as various specialist functions operating within these sectors. The first Working Group took place on 24 May 2011. It served to discuss the EPHA position on the European Commission consultation on the Revision of the Professional Qualfications Directive (DIR 36) and to identify the (...)