A3-0123/94

Resolution on upgrading the status of nursing staff

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mrs Lenz and others on the upgrading of the status of nursing auxiliaries (B3-0281/92),

-having regard to Directives 77/452/EEC and 77/453/EEC, 92/51/EEC and 89/48/EEC which regulate this sector,

-having regard to its resolution of 19 November 1993 on public health policy after Maastricht,

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights (A3-0123/94),

A.mindful of the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union and the European internal market,

B.whereas the Treaty on European Union confers responsibilities on the Community as regards the development of a coordinated public health policy (Article 129 EC),

C.whereas demographic trends in the health care sector require ever larger numbers of and more highly qualified personnel, in the fields both of medical technology and home care,

D.whereas the launching of the internal market will aggravate the considerable fluctuations in employment in this sector (in particular with regard to shortages of nursing staff), while bearing in mind the varying situations in the Member States,

E.whereas humanization and the quality of care are key factors in any health policy; whereas the development of measures designed to upgrade the status of nursing staff is a priority line of action,

1.Asks the Member States, in view of the crisis affecting the nursing care sector, to take the necessary measures to upgrade the social and financial status of nursing staff and improve their working conditions;

2.Calls on the Commission to carry out a comparative analysis of supply and demand on the health care market and draw up a framework for improving working conditions and developing a policy on recruitment, promotion and in-service training;

3.Calls on the Commission to set up an information network and implement action programmes in the field of in-service training, retraining, exchanges of professional experience and innovative measures as regards the organization of care both at Community level and outside the Community with a view to encouraging recruitment policy in the profession;

4.Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with medical and paramedical professional organizations, to carry out a study on improving the working and living conditions of nursing staff (such as child-minding facilities, a reduction in working hours, part-time work, study leave, etc.) with a view to making it possible for them to enjoy a full professional, family and social life and ensuring compliance with the principle of mutual recognition of diplomas;

5.Calls on the Commission, in the context of improving the health and safety of workers (Article 118a EC), to draw up on the basis of this study a proposal on improving the health and safety of nursing staff, particularly with a view to combating the burnout syndrome;

6.Asks the Commission to ensure intra-Community mobility in the field of health care by promoting exchanges between health care professionals (based on the model of Erasmus and other current Community programmes);

7.Asks the Member States to have cost-benefit studies carried out with a view to reorganizing health care provision (such as the general organization of comprehensive care), stepping up training programmes, developing home care, especially for the elderly, and developing palliative care and other openings likely to create employment requiring the professional skills of nursing staff so as to respond to changing needs in the health care sector;

8.Asks the Member States to create the structures required to promote or intensify palliative care;

9.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission and the governments of the Member States.