Health

Ready for the Next Crisis? Investing in Health System Resilience

The COVID-19 pandemic had massive consequences for societies and health systems across the OECD and beyond. Health systems were not resilient enough. Resilient health systems plan and are ready for shocks, such as pandemics, economic crises or the effects of climate change. They are able to minimise the negative consequences of crises, recover as quickly as possible, and adapt to become better performing and more prepared. Smart, targeted investments in health system resilience are needed to improve health and ensure the next shock is less disruptive and costly. This report reviews the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and applies them to build policy recommendations to ensure the global community is ready for the next crisis. The reviews and recommendations cover health system issues – including workforce, digitalisation, continuity of care and mental health – and other topics, including long-term care, supply chains and international co-operation.

Available from February 23, 2023

In series:OECD Health Policy Studiesview more titles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Foreword	Read PDF
Acronyms and abbreviations	Read PDF
Executive summary	Read PDF
Key findings and recommendations	Read PDF
Investigating resilience in other sectors	Read PDF
COVID‑19 outcomes across OECD countries	Read PDF
Containment and mitigation strategies for pandemics	Read PDF
Lessons from the COVID-19 critical care surge	Read PDF
Preserving continuity of care	Read PDF
Strengthening resilience in long‑term care	Read PDF
Protecting mental health	Read PDF
Managing elective care and waiting times	Read PDF
Supporting health workforce recovery and resilience	Read PDF
Securing supply chains	Read PDF
Building the data and digital foundations of health systems	Read PDF
Incentivising the Development of Global Public Goods for Health	Read PDF
Investing in health system resilience	Read PDF
OECD Resilience of Health Systems Questionnaire 2022	Read PDF

PRESS RELEASE

Boosting investment in health systems will be essential to deal with future shocks, says OECD
Il faut investir davantage dans les systèmes de santé pour se préparer aux chocs futurs, selon l’OCDE
Read the Executive summary / Lire le résumé en français
Read the Blog post Investing in health system resilience - Are we ready for the next health crisis, The OECD Forum Network

Webinar_Ready for the next crisis

Webinar organised by OECD and the European University Hospital Alliance, 1 March 2023

Watch the webinar
Read the Blog post Ready for the next crisis – Building resilient healthcare systems in Europe to access the presentation made during the webinar, as well as further information

Policy Highlights

Ready for the Next Crisis? Investing in Health System Resilience sheds light on three major vulnerabilities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Health systems were underprepared, understaffed, and faced underinvestment. Resilience is the ability of systems to prepare for, absorb, recover from and adapt to major shocks. Using a resilience lens, this report calls for major investment in the health workforce, alongside increased spending on prevention and digital infrastructure.

This report makes six recommendations to improve health systems resilience and to reduce the impact of future shocks:

Promote population health: vulnerable populations make for vulnerable health systems
Promote workforce retention and recruitment: people are the key to making systems resilient
Promote data collection and use: without the right data, decision makers are flying blind
Promote international co-operation: responses are better together than alone
Promote supply chain resilience: getting products and services when and where they are needed
Promote governance and trust: without trust, whole of-society responses are less effective

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KEY DATA

Disruptions to health services led to reductions in diagnostic and surgical procedures in 2020
The number of hip replacements fell by 16% compared with 2019 across 31 OECD countries, but this ranged from a reduction of over 35% in Chile, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom to a reduction of less than 5% in Denmark, Finland, Israel, Latvia and Switzerland, and a small increase in Korea and Estonia.

Reductions in hip and knee replacements in 2020 compared with 2019, OECD countries

Reductions hip replacement

Note: The OECD average is the total reduction across all OECD countries for which data are available.
Source of the data: OECD Health Statistics 2022. See figure 9.4 in Chapter 9 Managing elective care and waiting times.

Health

Ready for the Next Crisis? Investing in Health System Resilience

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