HEALTH: CALL FOR OPEN COORDINATION METHOD.

• Position: Brief article

The urgent need for a coordinated European policy in the healthcare sector is now clear but tends to come up against the problem that the EU has no authority in this area. In order to ensure more orderly progress, the organisations call for the introduction of an OCM on healthcare focusing primarily on meeting the needs of those who are dependent on the system and/or subject to long-term care. They outline four priority objectives:

- respect for and consideration of the human dimension of dependant individuals";

- access to reception structures and services: ensuring the existence and availability of such services and structures, qualified staff in sufficient numbers, and implementation of integrated policies on the prevention of dependence;

- participation of all stakeholders in the decision-making and awareness-raising process in the institutions concerned;

- guaranteeing appropriate long-term funding for services in the context of public social security systems.

The organisations insist the OCM should provide for the drawing up of relevant quantitative (means implemented) and qualitative (relevance and effectiveness of...