APPLYING QUALITY STANDARDS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS. CASE STUDY ROMANIA IN POST-COVID PERIOD

The medical services provided by public hospitals have occupied a central place in the attention of the entire world during the pandemic that has marked the entire globe. The level of quality achieved has always been related to the growing and specific needs of the population. The pandemic has required the most effective use of the resources available to each public system of each nation. Thus, both the vulnerabilities and the strengths of the public healthcare system in Romania have been highlighted. Despite major challenges, public hospitals have made significant efforts to provide care, even if its quality has been affected by the lack of resources, poor infrastructure and overcrowding. The lessons learned from the pandemic underline the importance of structural reforms and investments in health, to be able to respond effectively to similar health crises in the future. At EU level, there have been a series of actions to support each member state in protecting and ensuring the health needs of the population. The quality of public hospitals in the EU during the pandemic has been highly variable, depending on each country's capacity to respond to the crisis, financial resources and available infrastructure. In general, hospitals have been put to a major test, and many of them have managed to adapt quickly and provide care, despite the difficulties. The private sector has also provided support in ensuring basic medical services for the population, especially those specific to pandemic conditions. However, more emphasis is placed on the qualitative side of health services, to increase the life expectancy of the population.