EFN UPDATE - MARCH 2010
News from the EU
Skills and jobs experts call for action now!
Following the New Skills for New Jobs initiative launched at EU level in December 2008 to build stronger bridges between the world of education and the world of work, and the appointment, in spring 2009, of a group of experts on training, skills and employment from around the EU to provide independent advice on the further development of the initiative in the context of the EU's future economic reform strategy (Europe 2020), the European Commission published a report that calls for immediate action to solve Europe's skills deficiencies and give Europeans a better chance of labour market success in the future, while stressing the need to provide the right incentives for people to upgrade their skills, to better link education, training and work, to develop the right mix of skills, and to better anticipate those skills needed in the future. The EFN welcomes DG Employment and DG Education initiatives on Skill Mix and Skill Needs and encourages DG Internal Market (DIR36) and DG Sanco (EU Health Workforce) stepping on board to strengthen future initiatives.
EU Consultation on the future EU 2020 strategy
The European Commission published an overview of the 1.500 submissions received from a wide range of interested parties as part of a public consultation process on the EU 2020 strategy: Member States, EU and national organisations, social partners from both the EU and national levels, regional and local authorities, business and professional federations, individual companies, NGOs, 'think tanks', representatives of the academic community, European citizens, and some non-EU countries and stakeholders. The report reveals that stakeholders specialised in social issues used the consultation process to repeat their criticism that the draft strategy is "too narrow" in scope; a number of Member States have called on the European Commission to develop links between economic, social and environmental elements of the plan, as well as better links between EU ‘2020’ and existing social policy; and several governments stressed the need for new investment in fresh sources of growth. Therefore, governments, industry and stakeholders are urging a stronger social dimension and the completion of the internal market.
For further information, click here.
New European Commission Public Health Website
A totally new Public Health Website of the European Commission is now online, with 150 new texts and 14.000 documents organised in a thematic approach: steering EU public health (where you can find an updated list of your National Focal Points for the Health Programme (2008-2013), ensuring health security, taking action against diseases, health in the society, fostering good health, improving healthcare, indicators and data, and risk assessment; and a “Quick Links” section with dynamic information, such as: press material, videos, events, projects, key documents, publications and consultations.
Nurses suggest improvements to the NHS
Nurses and midwives from across the UK have responded to an NHS-wide initiative asking them to identify the changes to practice they have made that have had the most impact on patient care, quality and efficiency. As a result of the submissions, eight key action themes have emerged. These actions will now form the backbone of further economic analysis, help create “how to” guides for each key theme, and be used to develop a programme for implementation to support the spread, adoption and sustainability of the actions across the NHS as part of the Quality and Productivity framework.
For further information, click here.
Publications
Women's health in the EU
The European Commission DG Sanco published a report on “Women's Health in the EU”, presenting an overview of the state of women’s health in the EU, focusing on women aged 15 years and older in the 27 EU-Member States and the EEA countries. It addresses both the differences between men and women, the differences among women living in different Member States; examines the main patterns of mortality and morbidity and the health risk factors at different stages of women’s lives; reports on the current situation and recent trends in European women’s health; and provides information about the influence of demographic trends and socio-economic factors on women’s health.
Health at a Glance 2009 – OECD Indicators
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its fifth edition of “Health at a Glance” that provides the comparable data on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries, such as: variations across countries in the costs, activities and results of health systems; health status, determinants of health, health care activities and on health expenditure and financing in OECD countries. This edition also contains new chapters on the health workforce and on access to care, and the chapter on quality of care has been extended to include a set of indicators on the quality of care for chronic conditions.