On 13th December 2022, the BeWell project (Blueprint Alliance for a Future Health Workforce Strategy on Digital and Green Skills) launched the European Pact for Skills large-scale partnership for the health ecosystem through an online event. The event was hosted by the European Health Management Association (EHMA), BeWell project coordinator.
The webinar was opened by a keynote speech from Sandra Gallina, Director General, of the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, who stressed the challenges faced by the EU health system and welcomed the initiative as a good beginning to guarantee that Europe will have the experience to deal with the challenges it faces across the health sector. She invited the partners to create synergies and, especially, inspire young people to join the sector, promoting the value of the work that health professionals undertake. The European Commission supported the launch event through the publication of a position paper.
Following Ms Gallina’s keynote, EUREGHA’s Director Michele Calabro’ presented, on behalf of the BeWell consortium, the partnership manifesto, describing the challenges, the ambition, the objectives, and the Key Performance Indicators set out. George Valiotis, Executive Director at EHMA, highlighted the collective development of this manifesto, inviting all interested parties to join the movement, being sure that they can contribute with their voices being equally relevant.
The event then saw the participation of four panelists representing different expertise that are contributing to the partnership, sharing their perspectives and describing the relevance of the partnership to the sectors they represent.
- Jan Willem Goudriaan (Secretary General, EPSU – European Federation of Public Service Unions) referred to the development of this partnership under the Pact for Skills in strong collaboration with the health professionals
- Ronald Batenburg (Research programme Coordinator, NIVEL – Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research) highlighted the role of research and evidence as a critical factor towards continuous improvement of health policies, and innovation in health services, focusing on health professions of the future, professionalism, and the labor market
- Anja Lund (President of the Digitalisation Committee, Region of South Denmark) presented the perspective of decision makers, highlighting the importance of creating a strong innovation culture, that builds on the close collaboration between professionals and clinical research
- Elizabeth Adams (President, EFN – European Federation of Nurses Associations), representing 3 million nurses across Europe, welcomed the partnership as a major opportunity for all actors to work together towards delivering the most effective, efficient and appropriate care, building a better prepared and sustainable health ecosystem.
As next steps, BeWell partners will develop a workplan and will start offering services to facilitate networking, knowledge exchange between the partners of the Partnership and will provide funding advice later in 2023.
Are you interested in the up-skilling and re-skilling of the healthcare workforce? Join the Partnership and be part of the change!
Read more information and the Partnership manifesto here.
If you want more information about the BeWell project the Multi-stakeholder Partnership, you can contact us at michele.calabro@euregha.net.
Re-watch the webinar here:
