Session 2. Primary care in transition: experiences of COVID-19 in European countries

In the last decades, the importance of Primary Care (PC) has been progressively recognised in most of the OECD countries, which were under increasing pressure to make health systems more focused on community care, continuity of care and prevention Moreover, PC showed to be essential in the health system response to COVID-19, although not in the same way in all European countries. PC has been able to reinforce public health messages, has largely contributed to treat the patients at home and to identify those in need of hospital care. In some countries, PC was able to do COVID-19 swab tests and directly take part in contact tracing, being at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in many countries.

Primary care workers confronted the fear and reality of being infected, the struggle to support their families, and the lack of resources such as personal protective equipment. They had to rapidly rethink the way they delivered care as they embarked on remote consultations, while recognising that many of their most vulnerable patients were digitally excluded. 

The increasing awareness of the importance of PC, both in extraordinary and in ordinary times, stimulated the debate on its reform in many countries, aimed at developing a more effective organisation and provision, based on interprofessional service models. In this context, many factors, such pre-existing institutions and actors involved in the process (e.g., GPs and other health professions) may give an essential contribution to shape the policy design and its implementation.

The panel welcomes contributions which analyse: the PC response to Covid-19 pandemic in the European healthcare systems; the measures taken to support it during the emergency; the possible or current PC reforms. Papers may carry out cross-country comparison as well as focus on a single country or to compare sub-national levels, by using qualitative or quantitative methods.  

Stefano Neri is an Associate professor in Economic Sociology at the Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Main research interests: comparative welfare systems; work organisation and labour regulation in the public services, in particular health, educational and social services; professions.

Elena Spina is an Associate professor in Economic  Sociology at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy. Main research interests: sociology of professional groups with a focus on healthcare professions, health policies, welfare systems.

Giovanna Vicarelli is an Full professor in Economic Sociology at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy. Main research interests: comparative welfare systems; health and social policies; organization and management of health systems; changes in healthcare professions.