Addressing the health and care workforce crisis:

A healthy and robust health and care workforce is an essential factor for resilient health systems. However, the health and care workforce has long been facing many challenges, which have been exposed, reinforced or even worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Worryingly, these are only expected to worsen in the coming years given the ageing population and an increasing demand for care. Shortages, uneven distribution, growing skills needs, deteriorating working conditions, gender disparities and the repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis on health systems are only some of the challenges that the health and care workforce is currently facing. The consequences of the health and care workforce crisis are not only affecting people across Europe in the short term, but they will also have an impact on future generations. The urgency of the situation calls for prompt and adequate action to efficiently address this crisis and avoid entering a downward spiral.