Spain supports Tunisia again in its hospital management reform

The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) is once again managing a cooperation project with European funds to support Tunisia in the reform of its hospital management system. Its objective is to acquire greater control over patients while optimising the financial resources of hospitals.

In this second phase, with a budget of 1,000,000 euros, the aim is to extend this system to another ten hospitals. For its development, the FIIAPP will once again rely on experts from the Castilla-La Mancha Health Service, the Madrid Health Service and the National Institute for Health Management of the Ministry of Health.

The final beneficiary of this project is the patient. He or she will be able to see improvements such as reduced waiting times, the possibility of establishing appointment systems and, above all, having continuity of care. In addition, the hospitals where it is developed will optimise their financial resources, as they will carry out better management of their services with the same budget.

Results of the First Phase

The European Union already supported Tunisia in this mission with another cooperation project that was also managed by FIIAPP between 2012 and 2014. It was developed in six pilot hospitals and its main success was the creation of a single patient record based on the Spanish model, which had not existed until then in the North African country. This system has been used in Spain since 1985 and it was experts from the Castilla-La Mancha Health Service (SESCAM), a FIIAPP collaborating institution in the project, who were responsible for training their Tunisian counterparts to create this new service.

As there were no single patient records, in Tunisian hospitals tests already performed on patients were often repeated, it was more difficult to establish a relationship between different pathologies and users were hospitalised for longer than necessary.