Setting up an EU Health System Resilience testing and support programme

COVID-19 has thrown a spotlight on the pressures on European society and on Europe'Äôs health systems. The pandemic exposed weakness in health systems'Äô abilities to prepare for and manage shock. Countries struggled in terms of resources 'Äì beds, staff, funding 'Äì and with the capacity to mobilize those resources available. Where there was the potential to innovate to meet challenges, system issues like payment mechanisms or staffing practices often made it difficult for countries to respond. This project will address how Member States can review and understand their vulnerability to future health shocks. It will also explore the steps they can take to strengthen health system resilience so that they can better prepare for different crisis scenarios and for long-term structural challenges. The project run jointly by the Observatory and OECD in close consultation with DG SANTE will develop a framework for analysing how different shocks impact on health systems functioning. It will identify the core data countries need to understand their own resilience and explain how to collect them and analyse their implications. It will develop and explain tools so that Member States can explore the contextual dimensions that are critical to responding in practice. It will then pull together all these elements and methodologies into a single Manual or Handbook that will guide countries through the process of checking their own health systems resilience against high-pressure scenarios and long-term threats. Inputs from experts including in health systems performance will help the project build on the existing work in this area and careful pilot testing in and with countries will ensure Member States can use the handbook effectively. Finally, the project will set out how the insight and evidence generated through resilience tests feeds into Member State action to become more resilient. It will set out a framework for remedial action where it is needed and strategies for implementation.