Health and Social Services (HSS) is a large and diverse sector that encompasses a wide range of services including hospitals, child care, community health services, social work and care homes for older and disabled people. EPSU represents health and social services workers across Europe, including nurses, health care assistants, midwives, doctors, elderly and child care workers, social workers, laboratory staff, hospital cleaners and medical secretaries. We organise in public, non-for-profit and private services.
EPSU is the recognised European social partner organisation for workers in the hospital and health care sector throughout the European Union.
Adam Rogalewski is the EPSU Policy Officer for the sector. The President of the EPSU Standing Committee for Health and Social Services is Kirsi Sillanpää of TEHY (Finland) and the Vice-Presidents are Yolanda Gil of CC.OO (Spain), Dietmar Erdmeier of Ver.di (Germany), and Razvan Gae of Sanitas (Romania). You can also get their contact details here. -
The demand for care provision is growing due to population aging and, as such, the number of private multinational companies operating in the health and social care (HSS) sector has also grown.
Following the comments of Ursula Von den Leyen in her State of the Union address and the comments of other DG SANTE officials on the issue of the health and care workforce, EPSU wants to point out that political speeches need to be followed by concrete policies and concrete proposals.
On 20th September 2023 the EPSU Childcare network met to discuss monitoring and evaluation in early childhood education and care, and the results of a survey on working conditions and professionalisation.
The group discussed recent developments on worker protection in the EU and beyond, an interactive risk assessment tool in healthcare, and the revisions of directives on Carcinogens and Mutagens and Reprotoxins (CMRD 5) and asbestos.
EPSU recently held a productive discussion with European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, to tackle the critical staff shortages facing healthcare and care workers in Europe.
EPSU welcomes the European Commission’s proposed Mental Health Strategy but cautions that the strategy cannot achieve its goals without directly addressing the serious problems already facing the workers who will be instrumental in its implementation.
Over the coming weeks and months EPSU will be hosting, participating in and co-organising a series of events and seminars to explain our position on the care sector and to provide a voice to our millions of members in the care sector in public, not-for-profit and private facilities.
