Event highlights
12 December 2024
Collaborative efforts to strengthen Portugal’s health system
The "Integration of Population-Based Care and Management through Local Health Units" project was officially launched shortly before Portuguese Health Minister Ana Paula Martins visited WHO/Europe on 27 November 2024. During her meeting with Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and the WHO/Europe team, both parties discussed the project’s details and expressed optimism about its potential impact, sharing high hopes for its successful implementation.
WHO/Europe and the Portuguese Ministry of Health committed to tackling digital health challenges and addressing health workforce shortages as part of efforts to strengthen Portugal’s national health and development plans. They also highlighted Portugal’s leadership in addressing population ageing through a life-cycle approach, aiming to foster innovative and integrated solutions for the future.
A population approach to health
The project aims to support Portugal in adopting strategies and policies to enhance the work of local health units (LHUs) and enable them to shift from an individual to a population approach to health. The focus will be on health promotion, strong primary health care, and continuity of care through vertical and horizontal coordination, as core elements of service delivery. Over the next 2 years, WHO and national counterparts will collaborate to evaluate the governance of LHU boards and establish national-level key performance indicators for LHUs. The initiative includes capacity-building efforts for strategic planning and change management at LHUs, and the development of an integrated performance dashboard.
Another critical component is enhancing integrated care and care pathways, supported by capacity-building initiatives such as online courses and in-person train-the-trainer sessions to ensure sustainability beyond the project’s timeframe.
The project places a strong emphasis on advancing data and digital capacities to enhance system-wide interoperability. This will support integration efforts by enabling timely information exchange across providers and strengthening performance management at the LHU level.
Another key objective is fostering collaboration, cross-fertilization and knowledge exchange among LHUs. To achieve this, stakeholders will engage in regular virtual exchanges and annual in-person meetings to share best practices and insights into LHU implementation. The outcomes of the project will guide the development of an implementation roadmap for scaling and expanding LHUs nationwide, with the goals of increasing efficiency of resource allocation, improving patient experiences, and achieving better health outcomes for LHUs.
The next steps are formalizing implementation arrangements including with the Portuguese partners and institutions that will participate in the implementation of the project, and planning the first missions to Portugal by the WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care.
Event notice
A mission by the WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care to Portugal officially launched a 2-year project aimed at supporting the nationwide rollout of local health units (LHUs), an innovative model for integrated service delivery. This model brings primary care, outpatient specialist services and inpatient care under one system, designed to better align health service delivery with community needs through a population health approach.
The project “Integration of Population-Based Care and Management through Local Health Units” is being implemented as a collaboration between the Portuguese government and the WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care, and is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).
During this mission, stakeholders convened for:
- a high-level project launch, including participation from a diverse range of Portuguese stakeholders, such as senior representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Central Administration of the Health System, and the National Health Service, as well as LHU board members and professionals;
- finalization of implementation arrangements and establishment of a detailed timeline for activities through thematic working group sessions with Portuguese counterparts.