Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Belgium (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the detailed information supplied in the Government’s report and also the attached documentation. It also notes the numerous legislative amendments, in particular the Ministerial Orders of 19 April 2007 fixing the approval criteria authorizing nursing practitioners to use the professional title of nurse specializing in intensive, emergency and geriatric care; the Royal Order of 12 January 2006 establishing the nursing activities which may be performed by nursing aides and the requirements for nursing aides to engage in such activities; and also the creation and funding of a Nursing Advisory Council within hospitals as a representative, advisory and support body for the Nursing Department.

Article 2 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of a policy on nursing services and nursing personnel. Further to its previous comments relating to changes in nursing personnel wage levels, the Committee notes that each of the joint committees set up in 2008 has adopted, within its area of competence (outpatient care, subsidized establishments, preventive care establishments recognized by the Flemish community, and childcare centres), collective labour agreements which define, inter alia, wages for nursing personnel, conditions for granting the status of employee to nursing personnel and also conditions of work and pay for certain workers.

With regard to ongoing education and further training programmes, the Committee notes the Government’s statement to the effect that every hospital is required to establish a development strategy providing for a training programme accessible to each nurse. It also notes the renewal of the “Nursing Training Project (Project 600)” – adopted in 2000 in the context of the multiyear plan for the health sector – until the end of the 2011 academic year, in order to train more nurses, and thereby alleviate the persistent staff shortages in this sector. It notes that this project will enable 163 new training places to be created in the private health-care sector.

Furthermore, the Committee notes the 2005–10 Social Agreement, signed in April 2005 for the private sector and approved in July 2005 for the public sector, concerning the raising of training standards in healthcare units. It notes that this agreement contains three parts: job creation, incentive bonuses and transfer of know-how. While noting the numerous legislative measures adopted in the health and nursing care sector, the Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information on the formulation and implementation of development strategies and their results, and also on training projects or any other programme, policy or initiative designed to improve the quality of nursing services and make employment and working conditions for nursing personnel more attractive.

Article 7. Occupational safety and health. The Committee notes the implementation of the SOBANE (Screening, OBservation, ANalysis, Expertise) strategy for the management of occupational risks which is designed, in particular, to prevent risks in the healthcare sector and in nursing homes. It also notes the publication of the “Analytical guide to working conditions in hospitals”, which enumerates the various elements which have a positive or negative influence on the welfare of nursing personnel. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue supplying information on the abovementioned strategy or any other similar project.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the information supplied in the 2007 activity report of the Inter-Sectoral Health Services Fund (a nursing training project set up by the Joint Committee for Health-Care Establishments and Services). It notes in particular that, between 2000 and 2007, 1,251 persons qualified from the training schools as a result of this project and that, at the end of the project in 2010, at least 1,515 workers in the private sector are due to have obtained a nursing diploma. The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information on the application of the Convention in practice, including, in particular, statistics on the number of nursing personnel (by sectors of activity and by levels of training and functions, if possible), number of persons joining or leaving the profession each year, number of students enrolled at the various nursing schools, copies of reports or official studies, and also information on any practical difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention, etc.