A new Special Issue published in the European Journal of Public Health (EJPH) examines the current and future challenges facing the health and care workforce (HCWF) across Europe and beyond. At a time of growing pressure on health systems, the collection takes a forward-looking, system-wide perspective on what is needed to sustain and support the workforce in the years ahead.
Bringing together seven empirical studies and an editorial, the Special Issue connects frontline experiences with organisational realities and policy-level responses. Rather than framing workforce shortages as a short-term or technical problem, the articles explore deeper structural issues shaping collaboration, competencies, migration, retention, working conditions, and moral injury. Together, they show how workforce sustainability is influenced not only by staffing levels, but by governance, professional culture, and ethical environments.
A defining feature of the Special Issue is its strong focus on linking evidence to policy and practice. The contributions align with major international frameworks, including the World Health Organization Health and Care Workforce Framework for Action 2023–2030, and demonstrate how empirical research can inform more realistic and integrated workforce strategies. By grounding policy debates in lived professional realities, the collection helps bridge the gap between ambition and implementation.
The Special Issue is relevant to a wide audience, including health workforce policymakers and planners, health system leaders and managers, researchers and academics, professional organisations, educators, and international stakeholders working on workforce sustainability, migration, and retention. Across these groups, it offers a shared evidence base for rethinking how health and care systems plan for the future.
Key messages from the Special Issue
- The health and care workforce crisis is structural and long-term, requiring coordinated action across policy, organisational, and practice levels
- Frontline experiences matter: moral injury, professional identity, collaboration, and organisational culture are central to workforce sustainability
- One-size-fits-all solutions are ineffective: different professional groups face distinct drivers of retention and migration
- Workforce policies must go beyond headcounts and salaries, addressing working conditions, governance, career pathways, and ethical climates
- Migration and retention are interconnected and must be aligned with realistic workforce planning and institutional capacity
- Evidence-informed policy is essential, relying on robust data, methodological rigour, and implementation capacity
- Strengthening the HCWF requires linking micro-level realities to meso- and macro-level reforms, ensuring policy is grounded in practice
For EUPHA and the wider public health community, this EJPH Special Issue reinforces the need to move beyond fragmented, reactive responses and invest in integrated, evidence-based approaches that support the workforce now and into the future.
