Innovation readiness and digital skills of healthcare staff Training the healthcare workers of the future "The Joint Statement"

The 2020 EU Health Policy Platform Thematic Network on the workforce of the future has published, early this month, its Joint Statement.

The document, which is the final product of the work made by the Thematic Network, provides insights into best practices in workforce education to be shared across borders, into the skill set of the workforce of the future and into the role of healthcare professionals in promoting data driven innovation and patient-centred and inter-disciplinary models of care. The concluding recommendations provided in the Join Statement shall inform and advise the European Commission and the EU Members States on the health care workforce education, training, and planning for the future of care, identifying the necessary skill mix and the areas in which greater EU collaboration and best practice sharing are needed.

A large community of stakeholders has been involved in the drafting of the Joint Statement, including healthcare workers, hospital and healthcare employers, representatives of families and informal caregivers, students, academia and technology providers, as vital segments of the health care delivery. Those stakeholders have contributed via an online survey and presenting their case studies and best practices at the Thematic Network webinars in 2020.

The Thematic Network, co-led by the Erasmus+ Sector Skills Alliance DISH consortium partner European Health Management Association (EHMA) together with Health First Europe, and involving the DISH dissemination lead partner ECHAlliance, has been a natural ground where fostering synergies between its activities and the work already undergoing within the DISH project.

Facilitated by the presence of two consortium partners in both initiatives, DISH activities and achievements have nourished the Thematic Network discussion about profiling the healthcare workers’ needs, promoting and improving their core competences to better cope with the future challenges of health care. In this framework, DISH has been presented as a case study during the second live streamed Thematic Network’s webinar entitled: “Preparing health care professionals to the ongoing digitalization of care: Innovation readiness, digital leadership and literacy”[VT1]  on May 2020, and it has been included in the Joint Statement “Best practices across Europe” section as relevant case study.

On the other hand, the members of the Thematic Network have strengthened and enriched the composition of the DISH European Reference Group, amplifying and multiplying communication and awareness creation coverage of the project and its results at European level. 

The Thematic Network’s conclusions and policy recommendations, calling for actions addressed to both national and EU policymakers, will guide and inspire the future activities of the DISH project, enhancing health and social care professionals’ digital skills through education and learning to deeply embracing the transformational benefits that innovations in science and technology can bring for patients, staff and healthcare systems.

The full text of the Joint Statement can be found here.

Follow the DISH project on Twitter, Facebook , LinkedIn  and sign up to the DISH newsletter.

#DISHprojectEU