JHL involved in a European study: The value of healthcare assistants’ work needs to be recognised!

Healthcare assistants are essential for the functioning of European healthcare systems, but in many countries the appreciation of their work and their wages of do not reflect the demanding nature and the importance of the work.

Trade Union JHL was involved in a study of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) on healthcare assistants’ wages and tasks in 15 European countries. There were four Nordic countries in this study: Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Clarification of duties is needed

Healthcare assistant is a broad term that covers a number of job titles in health and social care in different countries. The Finnish occupations that were included in this study are care assistants (trained and untrained) and practical nurses. Job descriptions of healthcare assistants vary in different countries, but the work typically includes assisting in washing, dressing, eating and monitoring the clients’ condition. However, in many countries, including Finland, the tasks and duties are not clearly defined. 

Sadly, healthcare assistants often have to perform tasks that do not belong to them. For example, care workers hand out medication without the required training. This does not support clarifying the job duties and improving the quality of the work.

Wage stagnation threatens the sector

The results of the study show that there is a significant problem in care sector wages. The development of care assistants’ and practical nurses’ wages has been notably below the inflation rate. The purchasing power of the wages has eroded significantly, making these workers’ daily lives harder.

The study report stresses that the work of healthcare assistants is indispensable for example for humane elderly care. The COVID-19 pandemic made the importance of the care sector visible, but at the same time it revealed serious problems, including staffing shortages and exhaustion that pose a risk for the quality of care and the employees’ coping.

The report stresses the need to clarify the job descriptions of healthcare assistants and to take substantive measures that make the sector more attractive. If the problems are not fixed, they risk more than the healthcare assistants’ working conditions: they threaten the future and the stability of the entire care sector.

You can read the full report here.

Let’s promote the rights of healthcare assistants together

JHL has a clear message: it is important that healthcare assistants get organised and join forces to promote their rights. JHL has assumed a strong role in championing the interests of healthcare assistants. The real value of healthcare assistants’ work in society must be recognised.

JHL is the trade union for healthcare assistants. We work with our members to improve the working conditions and get more fair wages for all care sector professionals.