Improving the capacity of municipalities in Sweden to assess the quality of healthcare delivered at home, in nursing homes and in special housing for people with functional impairments  

The European Commission supported Sweden to design a framework for municipalities that wish to assess the quality of the primary health care provided by the municipalities to people in their homes and in residential facilities. As a result, municipalities should contribute to the long-term improvement of healthcare provided to their patients.  

Context 

Overall, Sweden has a strong healthcare system but there is room for improvement regarding  accessible and integrated person-centred healthcare. The Swedish healthcare system is currently being reformed to reinforce primary care both at municipal and regional level. The goal is to allocate resources to the parts of the system with good prospects of offering proximity to patients, and of handling disease complexity and prevention. The reform should define how to transfer resources from today's hospital-based healthcare system to the primary care sector and move toward improved, more accessible care based on the patients’ needs. 

Support delivered 

The project is funded by the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme and implemented by AARC, in cooperation with the European Commission. The programme provides expertise to compile and assess frameworks in other countries, proposes an assessment framework adapted to the needs of municipalities and assess the views of stakeholders’ on the challenges and steps that implementation presents.

Results achieved

Swedish Municipalities have a framework that can help monitor and guide actions to improve the quality of care.