EU Summit on Sharps Injuries

As a follow-up of the adoption of the new European Directive on prevention from sharps injuries, on 8 March 2010, the Spanish General Council of Nursing, a member of EFN, with the support of the Spanish EU Presidency, organised an EU Summit on Sharps Injuries, in Madrid-Spain, on 1-2 June 2010, focusing on how to implement effectively this new Directive in Europe. This first Summit showed how important the European social commitment is to the prevention of risks associated with blood-borne diseases, which have a huge impact on the health of the workers and the citizens of European Union. The EFN sees this opportunity to start the implementation process all over Europe as very important, as this Directive will be a cornerstone in bringing down the 1.2 million needlestick injuries healthcare staff suffers from in Europe, every year. Invited as keynote speaker, the EFN President, Ms. Grete Christensen, stated that “We all have a responsibility to avoid sharp injuries and this agreement and directive have paved the road for a safer future. In spite of many concerns I believe that the social dialogue has been a success. And it is my hope that with this directive we have ensured the safety of patients and the healthcare workers”.

 

Patient Safety Conference

The EFN participated in the conference on Patient Safety, organised by the ‘Ordem dos Enfermeiros’ (Nurses regulatory body), a member of EFN, in Lisbon-Portugal, on 2 June 2010, with the objective to identify the potential/constrains of the healthcare systems centred on the patient and to deepen the relationship between health sustainability and regulation. Patient safety is amongst the highest priorities in the EU and the EFN policy agendas. The European Commission, together with the Council and the Parliament, have been committed to tackling the issue as estimations reveal that 8 to 12% of patients admitted to hospital in the EU suffer from adverse events. Invited as keynote speaker, the EFN General Secretary explained that “as free movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the European Treaty, we need to make sure that the EU standards in care, in education and in recruitment are met at EU level, to comply with the global challenges”.

 

European Commission Open Information Day & Brokerage event on ‘FP7 Health research’

The EFN participated in the “Open Information Day” organised by DG Research (Health Directorate), on 8 June 2010. The event focused on the new aspects of the Work programme 2011 due to be published in July 2010 through two calls for proposals (single-stage and two-stage), with an estimated total budget of approximately €650 million. Proposals will be evaluated in late 2010 and early 2011. The call supports the fundamental objectives of EU research policy ‘improving the health of European citizens and increasing competitiveness of European health-related industries and services, as well as addressing global health issues and the socio-economic dimension of health care’. The topics which are relevant for nurses are: social determinants of health, and global health. The EFN is not engaged in applying for EU projects, as decided by EFN Executive Committee in January 2010.

 

“Health literacy - A first step towards healthy Europe?”

The EFN participated in the meeting on Health Literacy, organised on 23 June 2010, in Brussels, by the Faculty of Health, Medicines and Life Sciences, University of Maastricht. This meeting was a good opportunity to be informed on the positive impact health literacy can have on people’s health; the progress made up till now; how current public-private partnerships on health literacy can positively affect health; if and how health literacy programmes will benefit from a more strategic approach, three years after the European Commission White Paper “together for Health: A strategic approach for the EU 2008-2013”, named the promotion of health literacy as one of the key actions to reduce health inequalities within the EU.

 

 

News from the EU

 

Council Conclusions - Patient’s Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare

Meeting on 8 June 2010, within the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO Council), the EU Ministers of Health and Social Affairs reached a political agreement on the revised Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare on the basis of a compromise proposal of the Spanish EU Presidency. Aiming to facilitate the access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare and to promote cooperation on healthcare between member states, most EU Member States were satisfied with the new draft Directive. Nevertheless, the delegations from Poland, Slovakia and Portugal noted that they would not support the Directive in its current shape because of the inclusion of non-contractual healthcare providers. Poland suggested revisions to article 8 and Romania noted that they would abstain if the suggested amendments were not included. The Presidency noted that there was wide political support for the proposed Directive and that the proposed revisions would not be considered as this would open up the debate.