Meeting the challenge of health system transformation in European countries

Transforming health systems is a complex, messy business with no quick or simple solutions. Countries struggle to make it happen with policy failure often the result. Reporting on a World Health Organization Europe project aimed at understanding how health system transformation can succeed, the paper draws on three European country case studies to offer insights and lessons for policy-makers elsewhere engaged in similar efforts. Critical to success in implementation is the adoption of a receptive context for change. Building on the policy capacity literature, it emphasizes the importance of environmental pressure, the quality and coherence of policy, leadership style, supportive organizational culture, and managerial-health profession relations.