Re-profiling emergency medical services in Greece (2017)

This report presents the results of an assessment of emergency medical services in Greece.

Acute care requires a coordinated response that involves a continuum of services that begin with primary care. In accordance with the European Framework for Action on Integrated Health Services, this report proposes focusing efforts on:

• managing chronic diseases in primary care;
• strengthening the primary care workforce through primary care networks;
• establishing networks of out-of-hours providers in primary care;
• re-profiling emergency departments as specialized services;
• reinforcing the various connectors and interfaces to increase communication and coordination between primary care and emergency medical services; and
  reorganizing hospitals to support primary care.

The assessment comes as part of a series of activities outlined in the context of the collaboration between the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Ministry of Health to strengthen the health system in Greece, financially supported by the Structural Reform Support Service of the European Commission.