Emergency Medicine Workforce Challenges in Europe: A Comprehensive Manual for Sustainable Emergency Care in National Healthcare Systems
This report is a collaborative effort by the Professional Committee of the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) and UEMS. Its purpose is to provide specific, actionable insights and recommendations tailored for Emergency Medicine (EM), a critically important area of unplanned care, as generic literature on workforce shortages resulting in medical deserts often lacks an EM-specific focus. Emergency Departments (EDs), serving as the frontline of acute care, are particularly sensitive to these staff shortages. They face a dual impact: not only are they affected by the same workforce deficits as other healthcare sectors, but increased pressures on primary and planned care due to these shortages can also lead to more patients seeking care in EDs, intensifying existing challenges such as overcrowding and operational burden.
EUSEM 2025 Congress Sessions
EM Leadership Course: 27 to 28 September 2025
An exciting blended learning programme designed for emergency physicians wanting to establish and build upon their leadership skills with a combination of educational methods.
On completion of the Programme, delegates will be provided with a 8 CME Certificate of Completion of the European Lead EM Programme accredited by the EACCME®.
Objectives
The objectives of this blended learning approach are to provide ;
- An overview of the key models of leadership required for leading the Emergency Department (ED) team
- An understanding of the skills required to care for yourself and your team as well as leading on key aspects of healthcare change in the challenging environment of an emergency care system.
A learning development journey with online lectures, supported by a full 1.5 day workshop that will explore and solve real world ED problems with a highly experienced international Faculty.
Development of leadership skills are a vital component of being an excellent emergency physician. Over the past 3-4 years EUSEM has run a number of pre-conference study days to allow delegates at conferences to attend and have face to face teaching on some of the core principles in leadership and management. There is no other structured programme that links to the key domains of leadership development for emergency physicians in Europe.
Access precourse here
Sunday 28 September 2025
C13: Professional development session: Time for a healthcare system reset |
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Last year, both the OECD and the WHO published a worrying report on the expected further increase of the shortage of healthcare workers. At the same time, some general solutions were provided to tackle this problem as soon as possible. The ProfCom of EuSEM will shed light on the impact of these proposals for the emergency medicine sector in 2 sessions. |
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| Moderator: John Heyworth - United Kingdom | ||||
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| Moderator: Hannelore Raemen - ANTWERP, Belgium | ||||
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| 16:30 - 16:45 |
The OECD and WHO wake up call Speaker: Jan Stroobants - Brecht, Belgium |
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| 16:45 - 17:00 |
Keep healthcare workers on board Speaker: Ian Higginson - PLYMOUTH, United Kingdom |
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| 17:00 - 17:15 |
No learning waste Speaker: Ruth Brown - LONDON, United Kingdom |
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| 17:15 - 17:30 |
Task shifting Speaker: Paolo Groff - PERUGIA, Italy |
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| 17:30 - 17:45 |
International recruitment Speaker: Roberta Petrino - Lugano, Switzerland |
Mission Statement
- Assessment of the state of emergency care in European countries
- Promotion and support of the development of Emergency Medicine (EM) as a primary specialty, including national and European policy level
- Career development of emergency physicians (excepting continuous education, which is dealt with by the Educational Committee)
- Support of professional health and job satisfaction
- Liaison to other EUSEM groups and external organisations regarding professional issues.
Updated definition of Emergency Medicine in Europe
Emergency Medicine is a primary specialty established using the knowledge and skills required for the prevention1 diagnosis and management2 of urgent and emergency aspects of illness and injury, affecting patients of all age groups with a full spectrum of undifferentiated physical and behavioral disorders.
This includes organizing the proper medical response for patients looking for urgent medical care.
Time and timing in this setting may be critical either from a medical or from the patient’s point of view.
The practice of Emergency Medicine3 encompasses the in-hospital as well as out-of-hospital4 triage, resuscitation, initial assessment, telemedicine and the management of undifferentiated urgent and emergency patients until discharge or transfer to the care of another health care professional.
1 Prevention: also includes injury prevention, preparedness for disaster, as well as public health education.
2 Management encompasses the local service organization as well as the development of systems to provide EM care.
3 Primarily hospital-based
4 This applies to out-of-hospital emergency care, disasters and includes other urgent medical care systems outside hospitals.
Chair of the Professional Committee: Dr. Jan Stroobants
Members
Belgium
Dr. Jan Stroobants
Chair Prof. Com.
Germany
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barbara Hogan, MBA
United Kingdom
Dr. John Heyworth
Belgium
Dr. Robert Leach
United Kingdom
Dr. Ian Higginson
Italy
Dr. Paolo Groff
France
Prof. Said Laribi
Ireland
Dr. Djan Meseli
United Kingdom
Dr Ruth Brown
United Kingdom
Dr Taj Hassan
Belgium
Dr Hannelore Raemen