On January 16, 2024, the European Commission announced the launch of a large-scale Health Skills Partnership, a collaborative effort involving stakeholders from the healthcare sector, including pharmaceutical companies and universities. The primary goal of this partnership is to enhance the training and skills development of the health workforce in Europe.

The health workforce constitutes a significant portion of the European labour market, yet it faces considerable challenges exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these challenges, the Health Large Scale Partnership will focus on upskilling and reskilling the health workforce, a task complicated by the sector's rapid transformation, workforce shortages, and the widespread resignation of frontline health professionals due to increased workloads and difficult conditions.

Digitalisation stands at the forefront of this transformative process, yet the health sector is delayed in seizing digital opportunities. Additionally, the Skills Partnership recognises the importance of preparing the health workforce for the green transition towards more environmentally sustainable health provision.

The Health Large Scale Partnership aims to create and implement a shared model for skills development, with a particular emphasis on green and digital skills. Lifelong learning will be promoted, fostering dialogue among health professionals and addressing disparities within health and education systems. The partnership will also facilitate the exchange of data on skills gaps and needs, ensuring equal opportunities for upskilling and reskilling within the health sector.

Stakeholders from the healthcare sector, including pharmaceutical companies and universities, have joined forces to establish this large-scale skills partnership, endorsed by the European Commission. With the health industry facing skills shortages expected to intensify due to the growing demand for health services driven by an aging population, the partnership's ambition is to create a shared model for skills development.

Concrete skills needs that are to be addressed by the partnership include:

• adaptation to technological advancements;
• regulatory compliance, quality assurance;
• and supply chain management.

The initiative will also focus on enhancing the sector's skills intelligence, monitoring new training programs aligned with industry requirements, and drafting a skills strategy for the European health industry.

Background

The Health Large Scale Partnership is part of the Pact for Skills, a flagship initiative under the European Skills Agenda. This initiative has so far provided training to over 2 million workers through 15,500 updated or developed training programs, with a total investment of €160 million by Pact members. The partnership for the healthcare sector marks the 19th Large Scale Partnership of the Pact for Skills and is the third in the health ecosystem of the EU Industrial Strategy.

For more information on the Health Large Scale Partnership and the Pact for Skills, visit the European Commission Webpage.