6. Effectiveness: Quality of care and patient experience
This chapter starts with a broad indicator of avoidable mortality, providing a general assessment of the effectiveness of public health and health care systems in reducing premature deaths. In the year preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, it was estimated that better prevention and health care interventions could have prevented over 1 million premature deaths across the EU. This is almost as much as the number of deaths registered from COVID-19 during the first two and a half years of the pandemic. One of the positive consequences of the pandemic has been the increase in vaccination uptake against seasonal influenza among older people and other vulnerable groups, although most countries have room for further improvement. Before the pandemic, many EU countries had achieved strides in cancer care by implementing population-based screening programmes to detect cancer earlier and providing effective and timely cancer care, which increased survival rates. However, several countries experienced setbacks and delays in cancer screening during the pandemic, resulting in people being diagnosed at a more advanced stage. Ensuring patient safety in hospitals has taken heightened importance. High rates of patient-reported experience of safety incidents and low levels of patient safety culture indicate room for improvement as countries develop more resilient and safe health systems.
Avoidable mortality (preventable and treatable)
Mortality following acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
Breast cancer screening and outcomes