Press service
European Parliament
Press release
17-09-2026
Plenary session SANT EMPL
Healthcare: the EU needs to tackle worker shortages to avoid a crisis
Staff shortage of almost one million expected by 2030, including nurses and doctors
Need to increase the number of healthcare workers by at least one million over the next seven years
Increase EU funds for health to ensure investment in the healthcare workforce
Parliament raises the need for the EU to address healthcare sector staff shortages and inadequate working conditions.
On Thursday, Parliament adopted proposals to strengthen healthcare systems and improve employment and working conditions in the healthcare sector by 514 votes in favour, 61 against, and with 33 abstentions.
One million extra healthcare workers
Parliament is asking the Commission for an ambitious strategy to increase the healthcare workforce by at least one million during the next multiannual budgeting period (2028-2034). To increase the number of healthcare professionals, MEPs propose action to attract more young people to the healthcare professions, funds for scholarships, cross-border cooperation, and targeted measures to guarantee fair pay and job stability.
Better working conditions
Healthcare workers should receive fair remuneration, mental health support, and job security, MEPs say. They emphasise the need for high-quality education and training for staff and call for support for rare specialties and advanced practice roles for nurses. Safeguarding the well-being of frontline staff is a major priority, according to MEPs, as one in three doctors and nurses experience mental health challenges. They call for an obligatory framework to recognise unsafe staffing levels as an occupational hazard, compromising of workload controls and doctor-to-patient/nurse-to-patient ratios and to relieve the physical, psychological and administrative burden faced by healthcare workers.
More funds for healthcare
Parliament stresses the need for adequate financing to sustain healthcare systems, including increased public funding and the strategic use of EU funds, as well as an increase in the allocation and efficient use of dedicated EU funding.
Use of AI to support healthcare
While face-to-face care should remain central, MEPs recognise the benefits of digital health solutions, such as telemedicine and AI-supported diagnostics, also to support rural areas where the workforce deficit is particularly acute. To that end, workers should be equipped with essential digital skills and training when it comes to AI.
Quotes
Loucas Fourlas (EPP, CY), rapporteur for the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, said: ‘Hospitals, primary care centres and long-term care services are under increasing pressure due to understaffing, burnout, ageing populations, and growing healthcare demands. This is not only a workforce issue – it is a matter of patient safety, equal access to healthcare and the long-term resilience of our public health systems. We need concrete action, and we need to make real efforts to reduce the brain drain.’
Ruggero Razza (ECR, IT), rapporteur for the Public Health Committee, said: ‘The future of European healthcare depends on our ability to invest in people. Healthcare professionals are the backbone of our healthcare systems, and tackling workforce shortages must become a strategic priority for Europe. We need to make healthcare professions more attractive, strengthen education and training pathways, and create the conditions that allow talent to stay and thrive within our healthcare systems.’
Background
The EU is facing a severe healthcare workforce shortage: there was a deficit of 1.2 million workers in 2022, with an expected deficit of almost one million by 2030 in the European region according to the WHO, as demographic changes and rising long-term care needs are exacerbating the demand for care. Potential risks arising from staff shortages include compromised patient safety, overcrowded emergency services, long waiting times, and delayed diagnoses.
Further information
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Public Health
Procedural file
European Parliament Policy Department study – The health workforce crisis in the European Union
European Parliament Policy Department study – EU legal pathways for addressing the health workforce crisis
Arianne SIKKEN
Press Officer
+32 228 33126 (BXL)
+32 477 99 19 34
arianne.sikken@europarl.europa.eu
empl-press@europarl.europa.eu
EPSocialAffairs
empl.europarl.europa.eu
Thea PIERIDOU
Head of the EP Office in Cyprus
30 Vyronos Avenue – 1096 Nicosia
97 665992
22 870500 / 22 396485
thea.pieridou@ep.europa.eu
Janne OJAMO
Press Officer
(+32) 228 41250 (BXL)
(+32) 470 89 21 92
janne.ojamo@europarl.europa.eu
Sant-press@europarl.europa.eu
EP_PublicHealth
sant.europarl.europa.eu