European Semester: All Member States should strengthen resilience of their health systems
date: 19/05/2020
Today, the Commission adopted proposals for country-specific recommendations that require each Member State to take steps to strengthen the resilience of its national health system. It is the first time, in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, that the Commission has proposed health recommendations to all Member States.
The health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed an apparent need to ensure and strengthen the resilience of the EU’s national health systems, i.e. their capacity to efficiently tackle shocks, such as the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as longer-term structural changes to shield against any potential future crises.
Overall, COVID-19 has aggravated the performance of several countries that, prior to the onset of the pandemic, were already experiencing structural and long-term challenges related to the resilience, accessibility and efficiency of their health systems. These challenges have been the subject of various country-specific recommendations in the past.
The proposals for health recommendations are tailor-made to each Member State. They take into account specific structural challenges related not just to the short-term resilience of the respective health system (e.g. to ensure the availability of intensive care beds and of critical medical products such as personal protective equipment and ventilators), but also to the access to and the effectiveness of health care.
Among the longer-term issues highlighted in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis are the working conditions of doctors and nurses and shortages of health workers, as well as the insufficient financing of certain health system segments. High out-of-pocket payments and unmet needs for medical care for patients are also an issue, which can disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. Additionally, in some Member States the crisis has shown an insufficient capacity of the primary care sector.
The crisis also brought to the fore the untapped potential for the deployment and use of e-Health services, with insufficient coordination and cooperation between health care providers, and a limited integration of health and social care services, in particular elderly care.
The country-specific recommendations on health are as follows:
Austria |
Improve the resilience of the health system by strengthening public health and primary care. |
Belgium |
Reinforce the overall resilience of the health system and ensure the supply of critical medical products. |
Bulgaria |
Mobilise adequate financial resources to strengthen the resilience, accessibility and capacity of the health system, and ensure a balanced geographical distribution of health workers. |
Croatia |
Enhance the resilience of the health system. Promote balanced geographical distribution of health workers and facilities, closer cooperation between all levels of administration and investments in e-Health. |
Cyprus |
Strengthen the resilience and capacity of the health system to ensure quality and affordable services, including by improving health workers’ working conditions. |
Czechia |
Ensure the resilience of the health system, strengthen the availability of health workers, primary care and the integration of care, and deployment of e-Health services. |
Denmark |
Enhance the resilience of the health system, including by ensuring sufficient critical medical products and addressing the shortage of health workers. |
Estonia |
Improve the accessibility and resilience of the health system, including by addressing the shortages of health workers, strengthening primary care and ensuring the supply of critical medical products. |
Finland |
Address shortages of health workers to strengthen the resilience of the health system and improve access to social and health services. |
France |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system by ensuring adequate supplies of critical medical products and a balanced distribution of health workers, and by investing in e-Health. |
Germany |
Mobilise adequate resources and strengthen the resilience of the health system, including by deploying e-Health services. |
Greece |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system and ensure adequate and equal access to healthcare. |
Hungary |
Address shortages of health workers and ensure an adequate supply of critical medical products and infrastructure to increase the resilience of the health system. Improve access to quality preventive and primary care services. |
Ireland |
Improve accessibility of the health system and strengthen its resilience, including by responding to health workforce’s needs and ensuring universal coverage to primary care. |
Italy |
Strengthen the resilience and capacity of the health system, in the areas of health workers, critical medical products and infrastructure. Enhance coordination between national and regional authorities. |
Latvia |
Strengthen the resilience and accessibility of the health system including by providing additional human and financial resources. |
Lithuania |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system, including by mobilising adequate funding and addressing shortages in the health workforce and of critical medical products. Improve the accessibility and quality of health services. |
Luxembourg |
Improve the resilience of the health system by ensuring appropriate availability of health workers. Accelerate reforms to improve the governance of the health system and e-Health. |
Malta |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system with regard to the health workforce, critical medical products and primary care. |
Netherlands |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system, including by tackling the existing shortages of health workers and stepping up the deployment of relevant e-Health tools. |
Poland |
Improve resilience, accessibility and effectiveness of the health system, including by providing sufficient resources and accelerating the deployment of e-Health services. |
Portugal |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system and ensure equal access to quality health and long-term care. |
Romania |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system, including in the areas of health workers and medical products, and improve access to health services |
Slovakia |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system in the areas of health workforce, critical medical products and infrastructure. Improve primary care provision and coordination between types of care |
Slovenia |
Ensure the resilience of the health and long-term care system, including by providing the adequate supply of critical medical products and addressing the shortage of health workers. |
Spain |
Strengthen the health system’s resilience and capacity, as regards health workers, critical medical products and infrastructure. |
Sweden |
Ensure the resilience of the health system, including through adequate supplies of critical medical products, infrastructure and workforce. |
United Kingdom |
Strengthen the resilience of the health system. |
The proposals for country specific recommendations will now be discussed in the Council, where Member States will discuss and vote on their final adoption. After their adoption, the Commission will monitor the implementation of the recommendations.
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