Child health general practice hubs: increasing access to paediatric care in the community

Developing paediatric capabilities of GPs and other healthcare professionals facilitates more healthcare delivery in community setting; "Whole-population approach" also addresses difficulties patients have in obtaining a GP appointment, as well as promoting self-care where appropriate; Attendance at A&E in relevant areas has declined, and patients feel more satisfied with care delivery in a community, as opposed to hospital, setting.

“Year of care:” GP delivered packages of care for long term conditions in inner-city London

In 2007, the borough became a pilot site for the “Year of Care” Project. This involved clinics “redesigning” the annual review that they undertook with patients. The newly-redesigned annual review took the form of a co-productive care plan, where patients were asked what was important to them, and what health outcomes they themselves would like to achieve.                                                 

In 2010, it was decided that ALL general practices in the borough should offer a core Service to people with type-2 diabetes. This involved creating additional packages of ideal care for people with type 2 diabetes across four clinical subgroups: newly diagnosed, controlled ...

The House of Care: Re-imagining primary care in Scotland

“House of Care” is a sequence of several interrelated, synergistic strategies, at the core of which is a patient-led care programme design; patients design their own care plan in consultation with practice nurses; patients report having more agency. Some patients report an improvement in biomedical markers, as well as overall wellbeing; Staff morale appears to have increased.

At Risk Individuals (ARI) programme, Counties Manukau Health (CMH) Auckland, New Zealand

The model of care provides early and planned interventions, establishes general practice as the centre of coordinated healthcare, provides care based on patient set goals and improves access to a range of specialist and community services; uses risk profiling as means to identify and judge patient eligibility; care goals are set and progress overseen by an assigned care coordinator; funded by flexible regime managed by the providers to ensure care goals can be achieved.

Strengthening primary care in Voznesensk, Ukraine

The district of Voznesensk experimented with initiatives, such as provider payment mechanisms, designed to align service delivery with the principles of family medicine, becoming an example for broader primary care reform across Ukraine; effective local leadership, combined with political and financial support, created a stable platform from which bottom-up reforms were built; aligning local initiatives with national priorities proved valuable for gaining legitimacy and support for the initiative; availability and capacity to collect and share data was fundamental for improving communication between health providers and increasing continuity of care. A district-wide electronic patient registration and medical records system was created ...

Strengthening disease prevention services in Albania

The government, which was strongly committed to establishing universal health coverage, launched a four-year Free Check-Up Programme to introduce free screening services for chronic conditions; adopting a proactive approach to prevention was essential for reaching and engaging the target population (all citizens aged between 40 to 65 years); significant efforts were made to improve the systematic collection and monitoring of population health data; government support for activities, and a key partnership with the Health Insurance Institution to reimburse health check-up services, helped embed the initiative into the health system.

Integrating delivery of TB services in primary care in Tajikistan

Following on from previous national efforts to address high TB incidence rates, the third National TB Programme 2010–2015 was approved by the government to systematically address service delivery gaps and continue to develop TB services in primary care; building on previous actions taken to reduce TB and learning from these experiences enabled a stronger approach moving forward; cross-ministry partnerships ensured united government support and greater stability for the initiative; partnerships between the government and international organizations provided an infusion of technical expertise and resources; adjusting resource allocation was used as a mechanism to drive organizational shifts in service delivery.

Strengthening cancer screening in Montenegro

In 2008, the Government of Montenegro released the National Cancer Control Plan. Responding to recommendations proposed by the Plan, the Institute of Public Health developed a comprehensive cancer screening programme for colorectal cancer. Following successful piloting, the colorectal cancer screening programme is now being expanded to cover other priority cancers; partnerships with stakeholders outside of the health sector provided access to technologies and tools for engaging the public. Text messaging was the main tool used for outreach; moving from a reactive to a proactive approach was important for reaching and engaging the target population and increasing uptake of screenings; a ...

Defining and standardizing primary care in Georgia

Government reforms aiming to establish universal health care, increase state involvement in the health system and strengthen regulation have been introduced; articulating a clear government vision ensured a strong foundation on which to build reforms; learning from previous experiences and seeking expertise from international partners helped the initiative avoid potential difficulties; inclusion of stakeholders in the design process helped build local consensus for change; following the strategy development process, detailed plans were drawn up to guide proposed reforms.

Implementing targeted cancer screening programmes in the Czech Republic

The Ministry of Health developed a national cancer screening programme to increase population uptake of existing screening services. Through this programme, health insurance companies proactively send at-risk enrolees personalized invitations to participate in cancer screenings; strong Ministerial leadership provided an overarching direction for the initiative, promoting alignment across key stakeholders; use of available data helped identify key problems and supported tailoring of activities to meet observed gaps in service delivery; national information campaigns, run through various media channels, supported efforts by educating the public on the importance of cancer screenings; the initiative prioritized a proactive approach to addressing cancer mortality ...