Quality of care should be a core consideration in health systems recovery (6 July 2021)

Summary

‘Health systems recovery’ is a term used to describe the process of restoring and improving the functions of a health system that have been exposed to a shock or public health emergency, such as natural disaster, conflict, or a disease outbreak. This paper from Matthew Neilson and Sheila Leatherman discusses what quality in recovery look like.

Content

Key messages:

• COVID-19 has highlighted once more the need for urgent attention to the quality of health care globally.
• As health systems plan recovery from COVID-19, there will be opportunities to systematically address quality of care.
• By focusing on quality in COVID-19 recovery, health systems can not only improve population health outcomes but also improve their resilience against future crises.
• Practical steps to address quality of care in COVID-19 recovery include considering quality in formal recovery planning; strengthening national strategic direction on quality, built around a set of quality interventions; monitoring and publicly reporting on quality of care; and leveraging existing assets and expertise on quality of care.