Worrying about the wrong thing: patient mobility versus mobility of health care professionals.

Patients and health care professionals in the European Union (EU) benefit from legislation on the freedom of movement between Member States. In relative terms, many more doctors and nurses move within the EU than patients. Despite this, patient mobility has attracted more attention from policy-makers and the public while workforce mobility remains largely ignored. This is paradoxical and imprudent. On the one hand, the scope of patient mobility is narrow and self-limited. On the other hand, current and forecasted health care workforce shortages across the EU, global competition for health care professionals, and current economic pressures are all good reasons to start worrying about the mobility of health care professionals and its implications for health systems. The Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd 2012