Capturing Health System Innovation During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Michael Hodgins 1
• Dee van Leeuwen 2
• Jeffrey Braithwaite 3
• Johanna Hanefeld 4
• Ingrid Wolfe 5
• Christine Lau 6
• Emma Dickins 6
• Joeanne McSweeney 6
• Mary McCaskill 6
• Raghu Lingam 1

1 University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

2 Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Sydney, NSW, Australia

3 Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

4 Department of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

5 Institute for Women and Children’s Health, King’s College London, London, UK

6 Integrated Care Project, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Sydney, NSW, Australia

10.34172/ijhpm.2021.130

Abstract

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in over 2 million deaths globally. The experience in Australia presents an opportunity to study contrasting responses to the COVID-19 health system shock. We adapted the Hanefeld et al framework for health systems shocks to create the COVID-19 System Shock Framework (CSSF). This framework enabled us to assess innovations and changes created through COVID-19 at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN), the largest provider of children’s health services in the Southern hemisphere. Methods We used ethnographic methods, guided by the CSSF, to map innovations and initiatives implemented across SCHN during the pandemic. An embedded field researcher shadowed members of the emergency operations centre (EOC) for nine months. We also reviewed clinic and policy documents pertinent to SCHN’s response to COVID-19 and conducted interviews and focus groups with stakeholders, including clinical directors, project managers, frontline clinicians, and other personnel involved in implementing innovations across SCHN. Results The CSSF captured SCHN’s complex response to the pandemic. Responses included a COVID-19 assessment clinic, inpatient and infectious disease management services, redeploying and managing a workforce working from home, cohesive communication initiatives, and remote delivery of care, all enabled by a dedicated COVID-19 fund. The health system values that shaped SCHN’s response to the pandemic included principles of equity of healthcare delivery, holistic and integrated models of care, and supporting workforce wellbeing. SCHN’s resilience was enabled by innovation fostered through a non-hierarchical governance structure and responsiveness to emerging challenges balanced with a singular vision. Conclusion Using the CSSF, we found that SCHN’s ability to innovate was key to ensuring its resilience during the pandemic.

Highlights

Commentaries Published on this Paper

• Health System Shock Frameworks Between Theory, Application, and Assessment; Comment on “The COVID-19 System Shock Framework: Capturing Health System Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Abstract | PDF

• Health System Resilience as the Basis for Explanation Versus Evaluation; Comment on “The COVID-19 System Shock Framework: Capturing Health System Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Abstract | PDF

• The Fentanyl System Shock – Are There Lessons to Learn From the COVID-19 System Shock Framework?; Comment on “The COVID-19 System Shock Framework: Capturing Health System Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic”

Abstract | PDF

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Health System Shock
• Health Management
• Ethnography
• Health System Change

Main Subjects

• COVID-19