Although Covid-19 is a global pandemic and has affected people across every continent in the past year, the impact has not been the same everywhere – and neither have the responses to the challenges healthcare providers have been faced with.
It is interesting to look at Australia from an international perspective. Each healthcare system, whether national, regional or local, has faced its own unique set of challenges, yet some common themes can be observed.
The impact of Covid-19 in the US and much of Europe has been more severe than in Australia and New Zealand, where the numbers of both confirmed cases and deaths have been significantly lower than elsewhere. Even so, some elective care was temporarily disrupted, and the system remains vulnerable to local outbreaks that may occur from time to time.
As a global company, Q-bital has been part of a number of different Covid-19 journeys, having worked with many hospitals and health systems which have taken positive action to ensure elective procedures have continued as far as possible, despite stretched resources and a need to accommodate Covid-19 patients.
You can read more in this edition about the efforts hospitals have made to keep elective care going throughout the pandemic in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. We also take a look at pre-Covid waiting times for elective procedures from an international perspective.
Aside from any Covid-19 related backlogs, the pressure on healthcare systems is growing, with demand for healthcare services in general set to increase in the longer term. This is a thread that runs through several articles in this edition of the newsletter.
As I write this, prospects are looking a little brighter and with several vaccines now being rolled out across the world, and I am hopeful that we are beginning to see an end to the pandemic. Next, we look forward to a return to meeting in person at Australian Healthcare Week, where my Australian colleagues will be happy to discuss any aspect of flexible healthcare.
David Cole
Chief Executive, Q-bital Healthcare Solutions
Guest Editor, Healthcare Spaces Q1 Newsletter
