The EC has signed an agreement with the World Health Organization’s Europe office under which it will make €1.3 million available from the EU4Health program.
The initiative aims to help EU members create recruitment and mentoring plans aimed at attracting new people into nursing. The money will also be used to research the causes of staff shortages and ways to counteract them.
The program will be implemented in all member states for three years, with particular emphasis on those countries where shortages are acute, the EC said.
“Nurses are the backbone of our health systems and are critical in ensuring that patients receive
high-quality, professional care when they need it,” Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides was quoted in an EC statement as saying.
“Today's action is a sign of our commitment to address the serious health workforce issues that many Member States are facing and to improve the resilience of health systems across the European Health Union,” she added.
A shot in the arm for Polish healthcare
The news may come in handy for Poland, whose government plans to invest 10 billion złoty (€2.3 billion) in the modernization of hospitals and improvements for staff.
The minister for funds and regional policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, said in July that more than 200 healthcare facilities would benefit from the money, which is to come from
EU post-pandemic funding under the National Recovery Plan. The minister said the quality of care would be raised through increased availability.
She said hospitals would receive funding to buy modern equipment and that the health ministry would also reform treatment for cancer and heart disease to make the process simpler.
