The demand for specialists in the healthcare professions has been increasing for years. Due to demographic developments, changes in behaviour and legal structures, this demand is likely to continue to rise in the coming years. The labour market, on the other hand, will be characterised by competition for skilled workers. This raises the question of how high-quality healthcare can be ensured across the board.

The Federal Ministry of Health has commissioned the development of a detailed long-term monitoring of supply and demand in the healthcare professions in order to recognise professional fit problems in the healthcare professions at an early stage and identify suitable adjustments to eliminate discrepancies.

The objective of this monitoring is to,

1. to record an occupation in as small a differentiation as possible and
2. to operationalise starting points for possible political action in order to assess the consequences of measures to adequately eliminate matching problems.

In order to examine the practical feasibility of such monitoring, the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) commissioned the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the GWS to conduct a feasibility study from 1 February 2023 to 31 December 2023. As part of this study, the available data in the healthcare sector was assessed, the compatibility of the data with each other was checked and a projection concept was created based on this. The latter was then discussed with relevant stakeholders (data generators and holders, scientists and representatives of various ministries) and - where necessary - refined as part of the European Commission's HEROES joint action (‘Health woRkfOrce to meet health challEngeS’). The results of the feasibility study are set out in a final report (Maier et al. 2024).