Europe is facing a serious crisis in its health care system, manifested by shortages of medical staff, low salaries and excessive workloads, which have already led to a wave of strikes in countries such as Germany, Slovenia and Sweden. At the same time, in France, the controversial reform of medical education causes dissatisfaction among students and doctors. This is reported by Euronews.
In Sweden, medical workers organized a strike for the first time in 16 years, protesting long shifts and low pay. In 2024, they went on strike for 78 consecutive days.
Although strikes are less frequent in the Nordic countries than in other parts of Europe, after four months of fruitless negotiations, the Swedish Association of Medical Workers decided to go on strike, which lasted from April 11 to June 28.
“We have reached an impasse in negotiations,” said Sineva Ribeiro, president of the Swedish Health Workers Association, which represents more than 114,000 members, including nurses, midwives, biomedical scientists and radiologists. “We were forced to announce a strike. It was the only way out of the situation.”
The result of these actions was a reduction in working hours for 10% of healthcare workers who work night shifts, a salary increase of 3.05% and an agreement that employers will cover the costs of the specialization of nurses. At the same time, the association agreed to abandon demands to reduce the working week from 40 to 37 hours.
In general, the deterioration of working conditions forces many medical workers to migrate to neighboring countries. In particular, 13,000 qualified nurses have left the profession, causing a shortfall that has already cost Swedish taxpayers more than €60 million, according to a report by the Swedish National Council for Health Care Competence.
Public hospitals across the European Union are facing similar challenges: an aging population that requires more health services and the difficulty of replacing retiring workers. The medical profession is no longer as attractive as it used to be.
“Demand for health services is growing due to four key factors: an aging population, an increase in chronic diseases, the accumulation of problems during the coronavirus pandemic and increased patient expectations,” explained Tomas Zapata, WHO Regional Advisor for Health Workforce and Services in Europe .
According to a regional report of the European branch of the World Health Organization, published in September 2022, there is a threat of a “time bomb” that could explode in the health systems of Europe and Central Asia. One of the main problems is the aging of the medical staff, because in 13 of the 44 countries that participated in the study, 40% of doctors have already reached the age of 55 and older.
The report also mentions mental health problems for healthcare workers due to long working hours, insufficient professional support and severe staff shortages.
In some countries, more than 80% of nurses report that they have experienced some form of psychological stress caused by the pandemic. Moreover, nine out of ten nurses are thinking about leaving.
Similar problems are observed in Germany. In January, thousands of doctors at public university hospitals went on strike after collective bargaining with management failed.
About 5,000 doctors took part in a “warning strike” organized by the Marburger Bund trade union in the northern city of Hanover. The union demanded a 12.5% salary increase and an increase in night, weekend and holiday pay for 20,000 university hospital doctors.
However, the majority of Ukrainian refugee doctors cannot yet work in Germany due to bureaucratic obstacles. The shortage of medical specialists in Germany is worsening, although only a small part of doctors from Ukraine was able to start medical practice.
