COVID-19 and other public health emergencies
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the health systems environment across the globe.
Given the protracted nature of the pandemic, the initial application of this toolkit in many settings seems likely to take place during the COVID-19 response and recovery phases. This requires careful consideration of two key points:
- How are efforts to address quality of health services affected by the COVID-19 context?
- How can application of the tools collated in this toolkit support pandemic-related response and recovery?
Quality of health services is a key consideration for case management of COVID-19 and maintenance of essential health services. WHO has developed a training module course on Clinical Management of Patients with COVID-19, taking users through basic principles of quality improvement as they relate to COVID-19; this can be further built upon to explore quality considerations in the COVID-19 context.
On maintenance of essential health services, there is an ongoing need to understand the secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wider health system and its ability to respond to both chronic and acute care needs. This is discussed in more detail in WHO Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services in the COVID-19 context.
The maintenance of essential health services helps to ensure care meets the needs of people, while also being mindful of the protections necessary for health care staff. Intentional efforts should be made to ensure that work related to the maintenance of essential health services in the COVID-19 context help to improve quality of care by being additive and complementary to broader approaches on COVID-19 response and recovery.
COVID-19 has highlighted the need for quality health services as a foundation for resilient health systems. This will certainly not be the last major pandemic, and besides, many countries are frequently dealing with a range of other serious public health emergencies. Experience from a range of emergencies has shown the value of building services that are of sufficient quality to effectively perform their roles in prevention, detection, and response during crises, and that are trusted and utilized by communities. As a result, system-focused action on quality is critical to health security.
In practical terms, those taking action on quality of care at different levels of the health system should consider how to link up with local structures and planning processes for preparedness and health security, how to include quality of care as a key component of local preparedness activities, and how to plan for the adaptation of quality activities in times of crisis.
The WHO technical package on quality of care in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings is a key resource alongside this toolkit to guide efforts to improve quality in situations of crisis.