IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v143y2024ics0168851024000733.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the legacies of shocks on health system performance: Exploring Ireland's management of recent crises and its implications for policy

Author

Listed:
  • Farsaci, Liz
  • Fleming, Padraic
  • Almirall-Sanchez, Arianna
  • O'Donoghue, Catherine
  • Thomas, Steve

Abstract

This paper contrasts the Irish experience of the 2008 economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, and the health system responses to these shocks, from the perspective of health system leaders working across both time periods. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven senior national and international officials, the research presented here forms the qualitative component of RESTORE, a five-year research project examining health system resilience and reform, funded through the Health Research Board's Research Leader Award in Ireland. Findings indicate that the financial crisis deeply impacted the Irish health system in relation to infrastructure and capacity, service delivery and workforce. Due to these legacy issues, Ireland's health system was in a relatively weak position when faced with the Covid-19 pandemic but the system proved adaptive and innovative during this time. Furthermore, the pandemic proved to be a catalyst for positive change, providing opportunities for long-term reform, alongside an immediate response to the crisis. This was facilitated by increased funding, a devolution in decision-making structures and a political commitment to the health system. Exploring lessons from the Irish response to these crises provides a case study for developing appropriate policy responses around financing and resource allocation, fostering support for healthcare among political leaders and policy makers, and preparing for future shocks. Furthermore, examining these experiences facilitates understanding around the impact of each crisis on the health system, exploring options for addressing legacy issues and considering practical steps to improve health system performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Farsaci, Liz & Fleming, Padraic & Almirall-Sanchez, Arianna & O'Donoghue, Catherine & Thomas, Steve, 2024. "Understanding the legacies of shocks on health system performance: Exploring Ireland's management of recent crises and its implications for policy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:143:y:2024:i:c:s0168851024000733
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851024000733
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105063?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sumit Mazumdar, 2020. "Now More Than Ever: Considering Health System Reforms in the Post-COVID 19 Scenario," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(1), pages 157-162, October.
    2. Wren, Maev-Ann & Connolly, Sheelah, 2019. "A European late starter: lessons from the history of reform in Irish health care," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 355-373, July.
    3. Fleming, Pádraic & O'Donoghue, Catherine & Almirall-Sanchez, Arianna & Mockler, David & Keegan, Conor & Cylus, Jon & Sagan, Anna & Thomas, Steve, 2022. "Metrics and indicators used to assess health system resilience in response to shocks to health systems in high income countries—A systematic review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(12), pages 1195-1205.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Connolly, Sheelah & Brick, Aoife & O'Neill, Ciarán & O'Callaghan, Michael, 2022. "An analysis of the primary care systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS137.
    2. Asta Pundziene & Neringa Gerulaitiene & Sea Matilda Bez & Irène Georgescu & Christopher Mathieu & Jordi Carrabina-Bordoll & Josep Rialp-Criado & Hannu Nieminen & Alpo Varri & Susanne Boethius & Mark v, 2023. "Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems," Post-Print hal-04147723, HAL.
    3. Pundziene, Asta & Gerulaitiene, Neringa & Bez, Sea Matilda & Georgescu, Irène & Mathieu, Christopher & Carrabina-Bordoll, Jordi & Rialp-Criado, Josep & Nieminen, Hannu & Varri, Alpo & Boethius, Susann, 2023. "Value capture and embeddedness in social-purpose-driven ecosystems. A multiple-case study of European digital healthcare platforms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Paschoalotto, Marco Antonio Catussi & Lazzari, Eduardo Alves & Rocha, Rudi & Massuda, Adriano & Castro, Marcia C., 2023. "Health systems resilience: is it time to revisit resilience after COVID-19?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    5. Keane, Claire & Regan, Mark & Walsh, Brendan, 2021. "Failure to take-up public healthcare entitlements: Evidence from the Medical Card system in Ireland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    6. Camille Poroes & Laurence Seematter-Bagnoud & Kaspar Wyss & Isabelle Peytremann-Bridevaux, 2023. "Health System Performance and Resilience in Times of Crisis: An Adapted Conceptual Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(17), pages 1-23, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:143:y:2024:i:c:s0168851024000733. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.