Improving hospitals and health services delivery

Abstract

This report examines the challenges facing hospitals and the health services delivery across the WHO European Region. There is scope for major change and improvement which is made more urgent by the many challenges being faced by hospitals as a result of changes in the population, in the practice of medicine and in the wider health system and the economies of Europe. The report looks at the areas in which improvements and policy changes are required and identifies the areas where there is the greatest opportunity for the WHO support to Member States. We identified that there is important work to do to set out a clearer vision for the future shape of delivery systems and the role of the hospital within them, to spell out what the changes are needed in clinical services, to create tools and indicators to promote change, to develop new policy frameworks, to create and share knowledge and support country offices. Increasingly this needs to be done in collaboration with partner agencies.