Session 3

Beyond hospital walls

Structuring care for the future

Organised by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Poland with Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic

European health systems are under mounting pressure from demographic change: ageing populations, declining fertility, rising multi-morbidity and growing demand for complex, long-term care. These trends are reshaping hospitals by increasing demand for geriatric, chronic and post-acute care, while falling birth rates and population shifts may reduce the need for some services and intensify workforce and financial pressures.

The session will explore how hospital structures can be redesigned through strategic, system-level reforms. It will focus on shifting appropriate services to outpatient, day-case and home-based care; strengthening links between hospitals, primary care and community services; and using data, digital tools and regional planning to align capacity with changing needs.

By bringing together policymakers, providers and other stakeholders, the discussion will identify practical approaches to hospital network restructuring, service concentration where appropriate and flexible capacity allocation, supporting more resilient, efficient and equitable hospital systems.

Speakers to be announced