LTCcovid Country Profiles

Responses to 3.02.02. Measures to improve coordination between Health and Social Care in response to the pandemic

Austria

A published paper highlights the fragmented nature of the health and social care system, which leads professionals in both sectors to largely ‘work in ‘silos’’. The paper notes that there is very little exchange between LTC staff working in residential and domiciliary care. It further observes that this lack of exchange between health and LTC services, but also between different LTC services, leads to a situation where some health and LTC workers had to reduce their activities, while others experienced excess demand.

Last updated: September 9th, 2021

British Columbia (Canada)

While the same five health authorities in British Columbia oversee both health and social care, the creation of emergency committees and new medical health officer roles within these authorities created confusion regarding decision making power and authority (Source: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/1.25.2021_LTC_COVID-19_Response_Review.pdf).

Last updated: November 2nd, 2021

Denmark

The Board for Patient Safety enforced that the municipalities introduced restrictions preventing visitors in nursing homes. This included visits inside the institutions, and in common areas, as well as apartments or rooms. It could also include outdoor areas if necessary but this was a decision to be taken by the Municipal Board (Source: https://ltccovid.org/2020/05/28/new-country-report-the-covid-19-long-term-care-situation-in-denmark/).

On April 8, 2020, an extensive guideline was issued by the Board of Health, outlined how nursing homes and other institutions could prevent the spread of COVID-19, in the wake of the so-called controlled re-opening of the country which was planned to take place after Easter (April 14). It was intended to supplement the procedures that the municipalities had already put in place, and provided guidelines on how to organise this. It specifically addressed the handling of the disease as a responsibility of the management. The managers were encouraged to plan the daily activities so that residents gathered in smaller groups than normally, preferably no more than two (Source: https://ltccovid.org/2020/05/28/new-country-report-the-covid-19-long-term-care-situation-in-denmark/).

Last updated: May 25th, 2023

Finland

Hospital districts became the central organising forces for the pandemic response. Concern over shortages and adequacy of healthcare personnel led to the termination of non-urgent care, most elective surgeries, medical rehabilitations, therapies, and counselling services, and annual health checks (included those of at-home care users) were suspended nationwide. However, the use of hospitals has generally been kept under control (Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19z_e5j7bcPxUYh2qLBa6VwrVDVnWilv7/view (p. 20)). Early on, avoiding transfer from care homes to hospitals (and vice versa) was put on the mandated guidelines list (Source: https://ltccovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ltccovid-country-reports_Finland_120620-1.pdf (p. 9)).

Last updated: September 9th, 2021

France

At the onset of the pandemic, significant issues were reported among care homes (and other LTC users) relating to access to healthcare facilities. Many care homes did not have named GPs or equivalent contacts which the Senate/National Assembly attributed to higher deaths. As a result, ‘geriatric territorial support pathways’ and mobile geriatric and palliative care teams for care homes were established on March 31, 2020. The geriatric hotline connected care workers to a geriatric consultant and care coordinator from 8am-7pm 7 days/week. A protocol for pharmacy delivery of indispensable products (e.g. paracetamol) and to connect care homes to pharmacies was also developed in some regions (Source: https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jgs.16687).

Last updated: October 23rd, 2024

Germany

Local health authorities instruct and advise LTC providers within their jurisdiction on infection prevention measures. These measures, as well as the modes of co-operation and collaboration, vary between LTC providers and local health authorities. The health system (particularly the hospital system and the medical care system in the community) and the long-term care system, operate independently of each other. However, community care providers also provide medical care prescribed by family physicians. No formal coordination between the two systems exists on a local, regional, or Länder [State] level. Some states and regions have sought to establish informal modes of coordination during the pandemic. Where care providers are no longer able to provide the services for which they have been contracted, they have to contact the care insurance and work towards solutions with the relevant health and regulatory authorities (Lorenz-Dant, 2020).

References

Lorenz-Dant, K. (2020) Germany and the COVID-19 long-term care situation. LTCcovid, International Long Term Care Policy Network, CPEC-LSE, 26 May 2020. Available at: https://ltccovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Germany_LTC_COVID-19-26-May-2020.pdf (Accessed 3 February 2022)

Last updated: February 12th, 2022   Contributors: Klara Lorenz-Dant  |  

Italy

One of the major problems with Italy’s management of the COVID-19 crisis, was the absence of care coordination between care settings. The efforts have been focused on acute hospitals, trying to preserve their safety and resilience. This implied that, in many Regions, transfers from Long Term Care services (nursing or care homes) to Hospital has been blocked, providing guidelines to treat even the most severe case without access to the NHS. The same applied for emergency care. No specific national measures have been promoted on this. In some territories (such as Lombardy and Sardinia) nursing homes were formally asked to accept patients transferred from hospitals, becoming COVID-19 centres. Nursing homes representatives refused to accept this proposal, considering that they did not have neither appropriate staff nor equipment. Concerning staff, transfer from settings happened on voluntary basis and following local necessity. We have records of situations were trained staff were moved from acute care setting to nursing homes to provide training and expertise. This happened following specific agreement between providers. At the same time, many providers reported that they have been losing nurses and care personnel following the massive campaign of recruitment from the NHS. In March an extraordinary enrolment of health staff was implemented in Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Apulia and other regions, so that many professional care workers applied, attracted by public sector contractual conditions (generally better than contracts applied in private nursing homes).

With respect to the coordination measures between the health and socio-healthcare sector, an analysis (Berloto et al, 2020)  was made of whether and how integration methods were established between the hospital, regional and social-health network in the context of the COVID-19 emergency. On this, no Region among those analyzed has adopted measures specifically aimed at this objective. Even in the cases mentioned above, Liguria and Tuscany, the operational units responsible for coordination between settings had the primary objective of evaluating and managing individual cases and not the organizational supervision of the network as a whole. The topic was delegated to the local level, in the direct relationship between healthcare institutions and care homes which, on the basis of highly differentiated indications, also the result of historical relationships and dynamics, gave themselves operating methods and rules. The management of the patient/user relationships and professionals flows between the network nodes has in some cases been hampered if not blocked, for example with the prohibition of transfer to the emergency room or hospitals. The objective pursued was therefore opposite: instead of reinforcing coordination between settings, the aim was to isolate them and make them independent.

Apart from the Lazio experience, no specific guidelines or indications were identified in Phase 2 with respect to the coordination between the health and social and health sector. Also, in this Phase 2 the theme was not put on the “legislative” agenda of the Regions and indications supported by structured initiatives and regulations were not produced. Rather, nursing homes have been kept separated without regulating common elements with other services.

Source:

Perobelli, Berloto, Notarnicola, Rotolo, 2021, L’impatto di Covid-19 sul settore LTC e il ruolo delle policy: evidenze dall’Italia e dall’estero, in Le prospettive per il settore socio-sanitario oltre la pandemia. Egea: Milano

Last updated: December 4th, 2021   Contributors: Eleonora Perobelli  |  Elisabetta Notarnicola  |  

Malaysia

Throughout the pandemic, officials from the Department of Social Welfare and Ministry of Health have worked closely with academic, civil society groups, and care home representatives have worked together closely together to facilitate good care (Hasmuk et al., 2020).

References:

Hasmuk K, Sallehuddin H, Tan MP, Cheah WK, Rahimah I, Chai ST (2020) The Long-Term Care COVID-19 Situation in Malaysia available at LTCcovid.org, International Long-Term Care Policy Network, CPEC-LSE, 2 October 2020.

Last updated: February 17th, 2022

Netherlands

People interviewed for the McCovid project reported that nursing homes and hospitals collaborated well and there was some exchange of staff (nurses, gerontologists) when needed. Nursing homes were deemed to be well equipped to provide medical care themselves and by accessing health care in the community (GPs, geriatric doctors, other specialists). It is customary to treat illness in nursing homes and only to transfer to hospitals in exceptional circumstances (source: https://drive.google.com/file). There was improved regional cooperation between nursing homes and hospitals through regional networks (RONAZ). Nursing homes also assisted hospitals in making available additional beds to increase hospital capacity (source: https://ltccovid.org/2020/11/COVID-19-Long-Term-Care-situation-in-the-Netherlands-_-the-second-wave-25-November-2020-2.pdf).

Last updated: November 30th, 2021

Poland

At the onset of the pandemic, significant issues were reported relating to lack of coordination between health and social care which impaired pandemic response.  Recommendations issued by experts to address shortages in LTC sector include improved coordination between health and social care and regulation (source: ESPN Flash Report 2020/43).

Last updated: November 18th, 2021   Contributors: Joanna Marczak  |  Agnieszka Sowa-Kofta  |  

Singapore

The Regional Health System model, and the collaborative relationships that were formed through this model prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, was reported to have contributed to the ‘allocation and sharing of infection control resources and training, and the safe transfer and management of patients between acute and community care settings’ (Source: https://ltccovid.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-COVID-19-Long-Term-Care-situation-in-Singapore-27July-2020.pdf).

Last updated: September 9th, 2021

Spain

In the earlier parts of the pandemic, there was lack of clarity in governance, which resulted, in some instances, in care homes being given contradictory guidance from the regional Departments of Health and by Social Services. This improved in later phases of the pandemic. To improve coordination, in some regions joint working groups were established, whereas in others the Department of Health took control. (Source: https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/220460/5/Informe_residencias_COVID-19_IPP-CSIC.pdf).

Last updated: September 9th, 2021

Sweden

The Corona Commission highlighted shortcomings in coordination, with fragmented organisation of the care system across regions (health), municipalities (social care) and central government agencies. There was no overview of preparedness to tackle a pandemic and there were no established communication channels to facilitate operational coordination and collaboration. In several regions, recommendations were issued that people in care homes who fell ill with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should primarily be cared for in the care home and not referred to hospital (Source: https://coronakommissionen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/summary.pdf).

Last updated: September 9th, 2021