Lessons post-COVID from national and international approaches to safety and quality in healthcare

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge as well as an opportunity for healthcare. The pandemic has exposed the inherent weaknesses in health systems globally while, at the same time, revealing strengths on which post-pandemic health systems can be built. We propose lessons on improving quality and safety post-pandemic from a global perspective based on recent policy publications and our global experience. Nine possible lessons are discussed. These lessons can ensure that healthcare does not return to the old normal, but rather builds on what we have learnt as we deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage. Quality and safety are an essential component of healthcare strategy. Postpandemic systems require a transparent compassionate culture, with integration of care at its core. The workforce must be trained in the skills to improve care, and patient and healthcare worker protection (both physically and psychologically) needs to be a given. Any development of systems will best be coproduced with the people who receive and deliver care in an equal partnership. Finally, the new systems need to be conscious of emerging threats (such as the challenge of climate change), building sustainable health systems that also address the structural inequities that currently exist.

Healthcare Quality Indicators as a Tool for Safeguarding Patients with Limited Capacity and Physician Rights

“…The World Health Organization has also recognized the decade 2020-2030 as the Decade of Patient Safety. In addition, the pandemic has shown the importance of patient safety as well as protecting the well-being of all healthcare workers, as demonstrated by the WHO's World Patient Safety Day in 2020 [22]. So far, the aim is far from being successful, in line with established practice in Latvian healthcare institutions.…”

Covid-19 Pandemijos Įtaka Sveikatos Priežiūrai Ir Jos Kokybei Ligoninėse: Sisteminė Literatūros Apžvalga Ir Atvejo Analizė

“…COVID-19 pandemija davė visą eilę impulsų galimai pokovidinei sveikatos priežiūros sistemų organizacijai ir kokybės gerinimui [93].…”