On 5–7 June, WHO/Europe, together with the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan, is co-hosting a high-level regional meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan on the future of hospitals. Focusing on the theme of ‘Fit-for-purpose hospitals: prioritizing quality and sustainability to meet the demands of modern healthcare’, the event will bring together government representatives, hospital practitioners and partners from across the WHO European Region to discuss major challenges facing hospitals in the Region — with a particular emphasis on central and eastern Europe.
Why a regional meeting on hospitals
Hospitals play a key role in promoting the health and well-being of communities across Europe, but as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, policy-makers face a number of challenges in managing and maintaining these essential institutions. These include managing costs and resources, ensuring access to care for vulnerable populations, and adapting to changing demands and advances in medical technology.
Operationally, hospitals must also adapt and improve to meet the changing needs of patients and health care providers. This includes addressing issues such as reducing wait times for procedures, improving patient satisfaction and outcomes, and implementing new technologies and medical practices.
WHO/Europe is actively working to support countries in addressing these challenges, including providing technical assistance in implementing new technologies, promoting best practices in patient care and management, and supporting the development of policies and guidelines to improve access to high-quality care for populations.
In April 2022, WHO/Europe had its first expert meeting in Brussels on ‘Rethinking the future of hospitals in the WHO European Region’, where participants agreed to move this agenda forward, including having this regional meeting in Azerbaijan.
The regional meeting in Baku
The meeting will aim to create a shared vision on the role of hospitals in health systems and to build consensus on the need to heal, improve, and transform hospitals in the health care system.
The meeting will introduce a tailored conceptual framework for action that provides a clear understanding of the strategic shift needed to drive the transformation and how the levers can be deployed. The framework is centred around the idea of improving the performance of hospitals and ensuring that all patients receive high-quality care.
In particular, participants at the meeting will:
- discuss current challenges facing hospitals in the Region and the urgent need for action to address them;
- adopt a shared vision for hospitals in the Region among stakeholders, which includes new functions, such as telemedicine and preventive care;
- identify regional, sub-regional as well as country-specific areas for action; and
- identify concrete actions for countries to advance their goals for improving, transforming, and healing hospitals.
This will be a face-to-face meeting, relying on interactive participation and engagement of the audience, that will combine plenary sessions with dedicated workshops and parallel sessions.