The European Commission Joint Action on Healthcare and Workforce Planning (JAHWPF) recognizes the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe (BOHEP) as Collaborating Partner.

The general objective of this action is to provide a platform for collaboration and exchange between Member States to assist planning and forecasting the future Healthcare Workforce in the European Union (EU).  The JAHWPF will support EU Member States in their capacity to take effective and sustainable measures. Various tools will be developed to enable Member States to implement Healthcare Workforce Planning and/or to enhance the current planning processes.

The JAHWPF has three Horizontal Work Packages and four Core Work Packages.

Of particular interest to the Oral Health Platform is the Work Package Work Package 4 entitled “Data for improved health care workforce planning”. This Work Package provides key building blocks for Healthcare and Workforceplanning and forecasting systems and will provide better understanding of collected data at both Member State and European level.

The JAHWPF held a Plenary Assembly on January 28th in Bratislava.

Comment from Prof. Kenneth Eaton, Chair of the BOHEP: “This is a unique opportunity for the Platform to provide concrete input to a relevant EU initiative. The Platform is pleased to be a Collaborating Partner in the Joint Action for Healthcare and Workforce Planning & Forecasting and believes it will bring much useful expertise to the Joint Action. Over the years, we have gained in depth knowledge of the current inadequacies of most national data on all aspects of oral health, including those on workforce numbers.”