The current pandemic has taught us that HEROES should not be sought in movies, but rather in those professionals who work in healthcare organizations daily. Part of their priceless merit is due to the fact that they must frequently face highly challenging scenarios in a situation of under-staffing. The HEROES Joint Action is aimed at improving the HWF planning capacities of European countries so to ensure accessibility, sustainability, and resilience of healthcare services. The JA addresses three main objectives: 1) to improve databases used in HWF planning; 2) to develop effective tools and methods to carry out HWF planning; 3) to define the best skill-mix needed by professionals to carry out HWF planning. Activities will be organized around three main clusters of countries with similar characteristics in their healthcare systems. For each of the three objectives, clusters will perform and “as is” analysis and define a desirable “to be” scenario at the Member State level. Finally, each country will design a road map and carry out an implementation strategy to cover the gap detected. Clusterization and overall JA coordination will ensure mutual learning and sharing of successful practices across countries.

Already in the early steps of the JA, partbers will ensure a systematic involvement of different stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, public institutions, category associations, academia), who will in turn be part of a network of experts, called to guarantee the implementation, sustainability and continuous improvement of the JA’s results. The value of the JA is not limited to participating Member States but, on the contrary, will be directly applicable to all Member States. These will be able to benchmark their national HWF planning strategy with international experiences and adapt in consequently. It will also benefit supra-national entities by providing the bases for more homogeneous and comparable data across national borders.

https://healthworkforce.eu/