The last evaluation of Directive 2011/24/EU was published in May 2022. The evaluation report showed that while the Directive was successful in enshrining patients’ rights, for those rights to be fully enjoyed they need to be known by patients.
Despite improvements, the evaluation’s outcomes highlighted the need to implement more efforts to enhance the user-friendliness and accessibility of information for patients, including for people with disabilities.
This is the reason why, among the follow-up actions identified by the Commission in the report, detailed in its Annex, specific actions are envisaged to implement patients’ rights to cross-border healthcare better, in particular to:
- improve information to patients, raise awareness of patients’ rights to cross-border healthcare, including recognition of prescriptions, and
- clarify the relationship between the Directive and the Social Security Coordination Regulations
National workshops in the Member States
The Commission is funding 10 workshops, under the EU4Health Programme, to raise awareness on patients’ rights and obligations in cross-border healthcare, by improving information to patients and doctors alike. The workshops are organised at national level by interested EU Countries, some of which taking place in border regions and involving two Member States.
Moreover, considering that the Directive may also be used by patients affected by a rare disease, the workshops also aim at raising awareness on the existence of the European Reference Networks for rare diseases and their activities.
These workshops will culminate in an EU-level event that will present all lessons learned, including the final versions of the information material for citizens, patients, healthcare providers, payers, national/local administrations, patients’ organisations.
Member States hosting the workshops
The EU Member States in which to host the national workshops were identified based on a call launched by the Commission in occasion of a meeting of the National Contact Points for cross-border healthcare, during which it was made clear that the Commission would have supported them financially and logistically in organising the event.
Several Member States express their willingness to host the workshop, and a few of them expressed the desire to host the workshop in border regions, involving two countries at the same time.
The Commission would have supported them financially and logistically in organising the event.
The Member States that expressed their interest in hosting the events were those indicated in the picture below:
Agenda and Flash reports
As previously mentioned, the workshop aim to raise awareness of patient’s rights and obligations in cross-border healthcare, by improving information to patients and doctors alike, including information on the existence and activities carried out by the European Reference Networks on rare diseases, as patients seeking healthcare abroad could be affected by a rare disease.
The contents of the discussions during the different workshops reflect this aim. Therefore a common thread can be found in the agendas of the workshops carried out so far, with the flash reports of the workshops.
Information material
Six leaflets have been prepared by the Commission, in cooperation with the National Contact Points of the organising Member States.
Each leaflet was made available in the language of the Member States hosting the event.
Once all workshops are completed, the Commission will finalise these materials and make them publicly available in all EU official languages on the website of the Publications Office of the EU.
