- UHC cannot be achieved without attention to quality of care in all settings including those experiencing fragility, conflict and vulnerability.
- Quality health services should be: effective; safe; people-centred; timely; equitable; integrated; and efficient.
- Improving the quality of health services requires strong national direction from governments, focused sub-national support, and action at the health facility level. Across all levels there is a need for engagement and empowerment of the communities served by the health system.
- National policies and strategies aimed at improving quality of care provide a strong foundation for improving quality across the health system and need to be closely aligned with broader national health policy and planning.
- Quality needs to be continually measured and monitored to drive improvement, which relies on accurate, timely and actionable data.
- Improving the quality of health services requires attention to knowledge generation and learning. Lessons on delivery of quality care should be systematically captured, documented and shared within and between countries.
- Major public health crises – such as outbreaks of highly infectious diseases – are a priority for countries. For health systems to be resilient, they require quality health services that are delivered prior to, maintained during, and improved upon following a public health emergency.
Quality of care
Quality of care is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes. It is based on evidence-based professional knowledge and is critical for achieving universal health coverage. As countries commit to achieving Health for All, it is imperative to carefully consider the quality of care and health services. Quality health care can be defined in many ways but there is growing acknowledgement that quality health services should be:
- Effective – providing evidence-based healthcare services to those who need them;
- Safe – avoiding harm to people for whom the care is intended; and
- People-centred – providing care that responds to individual preferences, needs and values.
To realize the benefits of quality health care, health services must be:
- Timely – reducing waiting times and sometimes harmful delays;
- Equitable – providing care that does not vary in quality on account of gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socio-economic status;
- Integrated – providing care that makes available the full range of health services throughout the life course;
- Efficient – maximizing the benefit of available resources and avoiding waste.
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