Europe’s health and social care systems are suffering from chronic staff shortages, rising inequalities and the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues pose urgent questions about the sustainability and resilience of public services across the continent.
This edited volume offers the first evidence-based framework for tackling these issues. Drawing on cross-European case studies – from Scotland and Finland to Italy, Germany and Norway – the authors examine the structural, contextual and political factors shaping labour shortages. Using Social Democratic, Neoliberal and Corporatist welfare modules, they present a compelling rationale for renewed investment and long-term growth in public services.
An original contribution to workforce theory, this book provides actionable strategies for tackling staff shortages and building resilient systems – offering both a diagnosis of the workforce crisis and a way forward for its resolution.
Table of Contents:
Part I: Legacy of the Pandemic Era and the UK Experience
1. New Ways of Working, Staff Shortages and Industrial Strikes – Nigel Malin and Marion Ellison
2. Innovations in Health and Social Care – Marion Ellison
Part II: Evolving a Structural and Theoretical Framework Towards Workforce Planning
3. A Multi-Dimensional Evidence-Based Approach - Nigel Malin and Marion Ellison
Part III: Confronting the Workforce Problem Across Different European Countries: A Case Study Approach
4. Realising a Resilient Medical and Elderly-Care System In Germany: Addressing Skilled Labour Shortages in the Context of Demographic Change - Andreas Jansen
5. Determinants of Labour Shortages in the Health Sector: A Comprehensive Analysis Across Health Workforce Regimes – Alvaro Martinez-Perez
6. Health Workforce Planning and Governance In Southern Europe: The Case Of Italy - Stefano Neri
7. The Supervision of Social Workers in Italy: Defining an Essential Level for Social Services - Marta Pantalone, Michele Marzulli and Giuseppe Moro
8. The Long-Term Care Workforce in Norway in a Nordic Comparative Perspective: Inflexible Leadership Traded for Professional Discretion and Trust - Frode F. Jacobsen
9. Care, Class and Crisis: Exploring the Workforce Problem in Municipal Healthcare Services in Norway - Anette Fagertun
10. The Health Care Workforce Structure In Southeast Europe: Issues and Solutions - Damir Josipovič
11. Workforce Shortages Within NHS Scotland: Policy Responses to Gender-Differentiated Inequalities Arising From the COVID-19 Pandemic - Marion Ellison
12. Experiences of the Workforce In The Long-Term Care Sector in Finland: An Exploration of Recent Developments - Jiby Mathew Puthenparambil, Antero Olakivi, Lina Van Aerschot, Vilhelmiina Lehto Niskala and Teppo Kroger
Part IV: Conclusion
13. An Evidence-Based Approach Towards Workforce Planning - Nigel Malin and Marion Ellison
About the Author :
Nigel Malin is Emeritus Professor of Health & Social Care at the University of Sunderland and an independent scholar. Between 2014 and 2021, he was Editor of Social Work & Social Sciences Review: An International Journal of Applied Research and Associate Editor for the British Journal of Learning Disabilities.
Marion Ellison is Reader in European Public Sociology and Social Policy at Queen Margaret University.
