European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

The King's Fund has signed up to work with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (the Observatory) to take on the role as national lead institute (NLI) for the UK.

The Observatory is a programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and consists of a partnership between the WHO regional office for Europe, the governments of Belgium, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Veneto region, the European Commission, the World Bank, European Investment Bank and Open Society Institute, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Health system profiles

The Observatory co-ordinates and collaborates with NLIs across Europe to write and disseminate health system profiles in a comprehensive, standardised format. There are currently 53 member states of WHO European region and a selected number of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries who are working to support the Observatory. The health system profiles are accessed by a wide international audience who are interested in comparing European health systems and policies.

The King's Fund will host the English health system profile, written by Sean Boyle (Senior Researcher from LSE), and will be responsible for regularly updating this profile to reflect significant changes to the system.

Our partners

The King's Fund has also developed partnerships with David Steel OBE, Ciaran O'Neill (University of Galway), Marcus Longley (University of Glamorgan) and the Welsh NHS Confederation to write profiles for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, respectively.  

This programme offers the opportunity for The King's Fund to collaborate with new partners in innovative ways, sharing our knowledge and expertise on the English system, and also supporting the development of understanding on important similarities and differences between the UK and other European countries.