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European Union of Private Hospitals

Oct 24 – Strange times

Europe is awaiting for growth, while global geopolitical tensions are intensifying, and we are in a rather strange phase of consensus-building.

The (excessively) long process of setting up the political teams in Brussels is preventing any real visibility of the challenges ahead. The economic pressure in our European space, where growth is stagnating, is having a negative impact on initiatives to modernise and adapt the quality of healthcare systems. Our common treasure, social protection and universal coverage, is struggling to redefine its priorities in terms of public health and healthcare provision.

The private hospital sector is one of the pillars of the future, part of the solution in terms of medical and economic efficiency. Cancer, cybersecurity, prevention, AI – these are the issues the private sector is addressing to better serve citizens. Difficulties in accessing healthcare and the relative shortage of physicians in Europe call for new forms of collaboration. The attractiveness of medical professions is an issue at a time when the budgetary constraints imposed risk stifling initiatives or even calling into question the very existence of our structures.

The real aim in our establishments is to achieve quality of care on a daily basis, using experienced teams and a new generation of professionals. Despite so many environmental uncertainties, the impact of delays in decision-making is to be feared. Our teams are constantly faced with the challenge of ensuring day-to-day efficiency, while so many decisions on cooperation are still pending. Strange times…

Read the full version of the October 2024 UEHP newsletter HERE