Cancer care and treatment are simply not possible without the cancer workforce. At the European level, there is much that that be progressed in respect to such issues: as elevating training and development; promoting labour mobility and professional qualification recognition; and safeguarding working conditions.

For these reasons and more, during 2019, our member societies and patient advocacy groups identified Workforce as key area to prioritise for collaboration.

Our Co-Chairs Prof Andreas Charalambous, Dr Mirjam Crul and Prof Geerard Beets held an initial meeting with interested member societies, patient groups and other invited stakeholders in June 2020 with additional consultations scheduled for September. 

Major features of common interest among Network members include:

• Addressing workforce shortages in cancer care
• Improving opportunities for oncology professional qualification recognition and mobility
• Tackling inequalities in educational opportunities
• Ensuring the safety of healthcare workers in cancer care
• Providing attention to work-life balance concerns

Work on a position paper will be developed through the Autumn.  The European Cancer Summit will include a session on “Preparing a Resilient Oncology Workforce for the Present and Future”.  Find out more here. 

The organisations involved in the Workforce Network have kindly provided relevant links to their work in this Network which can be accessed under “Related Resources” on the right-hand side of this page.