(26 September 2016)
52 colleagues from 35 affiliates from 22 countries participated in EPSU's Standing Committee "Health and Social Services" (SC HSS) on 22 September 2016 in Brussels.
The main decisions taken at the SC HSS as well as some highlights are reported on below:
- As part of the agenda item on mutual exchange of experiences, the Nordic unions presented the way they cooperate in their country and region and how they seek to influence national and European policies. Colleagues from the UK shared an assessment of the reasons for the BREXIT vote and of likely impacts on the health care system and health and social care workforce in the UK.
- The Resolution of the SC HSS “Free trade agreements: Health care and social services are not for trading!” (EN/FR/DE/ES/RU/SV) was discussed and adopted. The resolution calls for refusing CETA as it currently stands and focuses on risks and expected impacts in the field of health and social services should CETA (and TTIP and similarly constructed free trade agreements) be ratified. It supplements other policy documents of EPSU on CETA, TTIP and TiSA and also builds on findings and conclusions of the EPSU Working Paper “CETA and TTIP: Potential impacts on health and social services” published in May 2016.
- Participants noted the endorsement at the last working group meeting of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Commitee for the Hospital/Health Care Sector on 2 June 2016 of the “take home messages” and recommendations from the reports of the two events on the prevention, management and reduction of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) (Report Conference Paris 25 March 2015) and psycho-social risks and stress at the workplace (PSRS@W); see here for detailed information on event; cf. Press Release here).
- The participants adopted the Joint HOSPEEM-EPSU “Declaration on Continued Professional Development and Life-long Learning for all health workers in the EU”. The final version will be issued in November 2016, after the final endorsement by HOSPEEM members. They also noted the objectives and planned activities of a planned joint project on continuous professional development (CPD) – with a conference planned for June 2017 in Amsterdam or Utrecht – and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and psycho-social risks and stress at the workplace (PSRS@W) – with a conference planned in spring 2018 in Vilnius.
- Updates were given on the joint reply by EPSU and HOSPEEM to the draft project report of the Feasibility Study on a Common Training Framework for Health Care Assistants. Colleagues also discussed possible next steps forward in this dossier.
- An update on the ver.di/EPSU workshop on safe and effective staffing levels on 16 November 2016 in Berlin was given. A questionnaire to EPSU affiliates will be put online by end of October (in EN, FR and DE) in order to collect information on existing systems or instruments to define and enforce safe and adquate staffing levels as well as on how trade unions influence staffing questions through their activities with their members, with the employers and with governments. This event also builds on previous activities by PSI and EPSU.
- It was agreed to support the preparation and organisation of a second European Action Day against the marketisation, commercialisation and privatisation of health care on World Health Day 2017 (7 April). It will build on this year’s event on the same day. Planned are a seminar in the EP, a mediatised action on the streets of Brussels and in other cities in Europe and a meeting with high-ranking representatives of the Commissioners responsible for economic, health and employment policies.
- A short exchange on EPSU’s involvement in PSI’s future work in HSS and input by EPSU affiliates into the PSI Health Task Force on 12 and 13 December 2016 in Geneva took place. The new PSI Policy Officer Baba Aye was welcomed. EPSU had contributed to the inputs of PSI into the report of the UN Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, delivered on 22 September 2016.
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