Health care systems in Western Europe: an analytical approach

Health care in the countries of Western Europe can be defined as a complex process of continuous innovation, i.e. of constantly implementing new combinations of science, technology, organisation, economics, politics, philosophy, opinions and fashion. Any element of this definition can influence the course of the health care process, whether or not combined with one or more of the other elements. This definition implies that health care systems as well as health care policy of the countries of Western Europe differ considerably. If we define a health care system as the legal and organisational framework, directed at producing, distributing, managing, regulating, supervising, co-ordinating and controlling health care activities in order to realise defined social health care values, no country can narrowly be compared to any other country. Such a comparison produces a huge basket of facts from which one can draw one conclusion only: each country acts to its own liking. The same applies for the concept of health care policy, i.e. a chosen course to achieve pre-set strategic objectives. Here too, every country acts to its own liking, where nobody is right and nobody is wrong. Consequently, the universal health care system does not exist. Consequently also, the analyst who takes a closer look at the health care systems of the countries of Western Europe, trying to map the differences, will discover a rather messy picture. All this being said, how do we deal with two burning questions? The first is: how can it be that, relatively speaking, the people of Western Europe are so healthy? Secondly: how do we clean up the mess or, in other words, how do we reform health care?