ABSTRACT
The European Commission has projected that the shortage of health professionals in the EU will reach nearly one million by 2020. As the domestic supply of health professionals has been dwindling, countries have been relying on foreign health professionals to fill the shortage. The recognition of professional qualifications laid down in the European Commission (Directive 2005/36/EC) has facilitated free movement of doctors within the EU. However, the changing economic and political scenario sparked off by Brexit calls for revisiting the issue of labour mobility in healthcare both within and to the EU. This paper is a step in that direction. The objective is to analyse the current trends of health professional mobility from India to the EU, compare the accessibility and career paths for doctors/nurses in the respective European markets and identify certain policy perspectives. Though partially constrained by data unavailability, this paper contributes to the literature by looking beyond the EU’s focus on intraregional migration and by exploring the EU market as a potential destination for Indian health professionals. The findings of this paper are crucial, as healthcare systems are always evolving and require analysis of existing information so that the systems can respond to new challenges appropriately.
