Books in the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies series

Hospitals must change in the face of changing technologies and patient needs. This book is for anyone who works in a hospital, giving them the evidence they need to call for change, and for policy makers and planners charged with designing and operating hospitals now and in the future.

A collection of comparative case studies analysing the history, politics and performance of private health insurance globally and its implications for universal health coverage. This is essential reading for graduate students, scholars and policy makers working on health systems financing worldwide.

Ageing societies can be healthy and productive- if they get the politics right. This book argues that the population ageing crisis can be solved through policies that reduce inequalities between and within generations. It then explores the political coalitions needed to support policymaking that avoids pitting generations against each other.

"Access to and the quality of health services are closely linked to the density and skill-mix of a country's health workforce (OECD, 2016; World Health Organization, 2006, 2016). High rates of chronic conditions and multimorbidity, new treatment options, and technological advances and economic pressure have led to fundamental changes to health systems and have impacted on the daily work of health professionals. Many countries worldwide are experiencing a shortage of primary care providers, particularly in rural or socially deprived urban areas (OECD, 2016; World Health Organization, 2013). Primary care systems face the challenge of ensuring a sustainable workforce to allow timely access to services, high-quality care and person-centred services (Kringos et al., 2015a, 2015b). Against this backdrop, the skills and composition of the workforce have changed in many countries and settings to meet the increasing and diversifying demands of patients (Dubois & Singh, 2009; Freund et al., 2015). At the same time, health promotion and prevention are gaining increasing attention among primary care providers to ensure that all people can live in good health. Moreover, the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought to the forefront the necessity of having a well-qualified health workforce that has surge capacity, competencies and flexibility to react to shortterm crises (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2020)"--

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a biological mechanism whereby a micro-organism evolves over time to develop the ability to become resistant to antimicrobial therapies such as antibiotics. The drivers of and potential solutions to AMR are complex, often spanning multiple sectors. The internationally recognised response to AMR advocates for a 'One Health' approach, which requires policies to be developed and implemented across human, animal, and environmental health. To date, misaligned economic incentives have slowed the development of novel antimicrobials and limited efforts to reduce antimicrobial usage. However, the research which underpins the variety of policy options to tackle AMR is rapidly evolving across multiple disciplines such as human medicine, veterinary medicine, agricultural sciences, epidemiology, economics, sociology and psychology. By bringing together in one place the latest evidence and analysing the different facets of the complex problem of tackling AMR, this book offers an accessible summary for policy-makers, academics and students on the big questions around AMR policy. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.