3.M. Round table: Health System Strengthening in the European Union: infrastructure, digitization, health workforce
Authors:   Organised by: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies,   Chair persons: Ewout Van Ginneken (Germany), Erica Richardson (UK)
Published: October 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a severe external shock for health systems across Europe. While immediate responses included building surge capacity and rolling out mass vaccination programmes, the pandemic has highlighted longstanding problems in all health systems. Consequently, policy responses are now focussed on health system strengthening to protect health systems and health workers during future health shocks. For European Union member states, building resilience into health systems has been supported by funding for National Recovery and Resilience Plans that have focussed on investing in infrastructure and digital architecture to future-proof health systems. However, there is also an urgent need to support the health workforce and addressing shortages of health workers will require long-term solutions. This workshop will provide a platform for sharing knowledge on health system strengthening in EU countries. The objectives of the roundtable are to i) identify cross-cutting themes and approaches to health system strengthening in the EU, and ii) establish opportunities for cross-border research and learning. In the workshop we will describe the recent developments in Czechia, Denmark, France and Italy from a comparative perspective. The workshop will consist of a roundtable with four speakers, followed by a broad discussion with audience interventions to bring in the experience of other Member States. The moderated discussion will emphasise learning from other countries in the European Union and the potential for cross-border solutions. Each panel member will make a short presentation on the latest developments in Czechia, Denmark, France, and Italy, drawing on their work writing the latest Health Systems Reviews - highlighting common themes and the role of EU Recovery Funds. Health System Reviews underpin the Health Systems in Transition (HiT) series, a core part of country monitoring undertaken by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. These Reviews are routinely updated and provide a systematic description of the functioning of health systems in countries as well as reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development. As these are in-depth descriptions which detail the intricacies of health systems and an assessment of their performance, they provide the ideal basis for understanding the true complexity of acute system-wide challenges countries are currently facing.

Key messages

• Even health systems in high-income countries need strengthening to better cope with future external shocks and building sufficient health workforce capacity is a long-term policy goal.

• Drawing on evidence, the workshop will help to identify trends in how health systems are adapting and building resilience in the face of acute system-wide challenges.

Speakers/Panelists

Karsten Vrangbaek

University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Zeynep Or

IRDES, Paris, France

Antonio Giulio de Belvis

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli-IRCCS, Rome, Italy

Nathan Shuftan

Berlin University of Technology, Berlin, Germany