Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
J Health Serv Res Policy. 2012 Oct;17(4):254-6. doi: 10.1258/jhsrp.2012.012018. Epub 2012 Aug 21.
Patients and health care professionals in the European Union (EU) benefit from legislation on the freedom of movement between Member States. In relative terms, many more doctors and nurses move within the EU than patients. Despite this, patient mobility has attracted more attention from policy-makers and the public while workforce mobility remains largely ignored. This is paradoxical and imprudent. On the one hand, the scope of patient mobility is narrow and self-limited. On the other hand, current and forecasted health care workforce shortages across the EU, global competition for health care professionals, and current economic pressures are all good reasons to start worrying about the mobility of health care professionals and its implications for health systems.
欧盟（EU）的患者和医疗保健专业人员受益于关于成员国之间自由流动的立法。相对而言，在欧盟内部流动的医生和护士比患者多得多。尽管如此，政策制定者和公众对患者的流动性给予了更多关注，而劳动力的流动性则在很大程度上被忽视。这是自相矛盾和轻率的。一方面，患者流动性的范围狭窄且自我限制。另一方面，欧盟当前和预测的医疗保健劳动力短缺、全球对医疗保健专业人员的竞争以及当前的经济压力，都是令人担忧医疗保健专业人员流动及其对卫生系统影响的充分理由。
