The third meeting of the European Parliament Intensive Care Interest Group (EPIC-IG), which was held in Strasbourg on Tuesday 11 July, ended with the adoption of a joint declaration calling on the European Commission and the Member States to take concrete steps to safeguard the mental health of workers in the healthcare sector.
This interest group is calling for greater attention to be paid to the mental health of healthcare workers, particularly those working in intensive care. The declaration has been co-signed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and members of the European Parliament.
The Commission’s communication on mental health (see EUROPE 13196/1) makes no mention of the deterioration in the mental health and working conditions of healthcare professionals. Aware of this serious omission, participants in the EPIC-IG meeting wanted to draw attention to this urgent issue.
The event, entitled ‘Resilience of Intensive Care Healthcare Professionals’, provided an opportunity to discuss the mental health challenges facing healthcare professionals. The joint declaration calls for the development of a suitable definition of burnout syndrome for healthcare professionals and the establishment of a precise method for treating and alleviating this “silent pandemic”.
The EU’s healthcare sectors are facing a major shortage of professionals. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)