Evaluation of the organizational model of primary care in Turkey: a survey-based project in two provinces of Turkey, WHO/Europe 2008

This report evaluates developments in primary care in Turkey, using a methodology that characterizes a good primary care system as one that is comprehensive, accessible, coordinated and integrated; that ensures continuity; and that recognizes that all health-system functions outlined in the WHO framework are equally considered in work to improve the overall health system. This means that the financing arrangements, service delivery, human and other resources (such as appropriate facilities, equipment and drugs) and finally all necessary legal frameworks and regulations are in place, and the system is steered by the right leader. The report thus offers a structured overview of the strengths and weaknesses of a country’s organizational model for primary care services – including the voices of the professionals and patients concerned – to interested policy-makers and stakeholders. The report focuses on structural performance, and provides for a list of proxy indicators. It does not, however, examine the process or outcome of care itself, and thus its quality. The aim of pilot-testing the tool in Turkey was to learn more about the structure and the organizational model of primary care in a given country. This is a first and very important step, a baseline, towards discovering how primary care processes and outcomes can be improved. While the validation of the tool was the main objective of the evaluation, we at the WHO Regional Office for Europe hope that this report contributes to the primary care reform under way in Turkey.