Patient Access Partnership

The Patient Access Partnership on Equity of Access to Quality Healthcare was officially launched in 2014 to tackle the issue of health inequalities from the perspective of patients. This patient-led network brings together the patients, the medical community, the industry, and the European policy-makers to ensure equal access to quality healthcare is a priority of the EU institutions too as Member States alone cannot tackle this problem. Besides this, a genuine involvement of all stakeholders engaged with healthcare is vital to find workable solutions to fit real-life needs.

Vision

The Patient Access Partnership enables different health stakeholders to join forces to develop, drive, and propose to the European Commission and the European Member States sustainable solutions to ensure equitable patients’ access to quality healthcare in the EU. Stakeholders will actively participate in delivering these solutions.

Mission

The activities of the Patient Access Partnership are patient-focused. Information and knowledge transfer are a key requirement to identify gaps in and measure access to quality healthcare between and within member states.

Objectives

The Patient Access Partnership will identify key hurdles in access to healthcare for patients in a holistic way. While the approach is to look at healthcare systems as a whole, the activities of the PARTNERSHIP will be guided by a patient focus, from the assessment of gaps in access to quality healthcare among Member States to the collaboration with relevant EU-led or national initiatives and the development of  solutions.

The objectives of the Patient Access Partnership are:

  • To facilitate the dialogue between European and national health stakeholders according to the mission;
  • To identify key hurdles in access to healthcare for patients in a holistic way;
  • To assess gaps in access to quality healthcare within EU member states;
  • To collaborate with relevant EU-led or national initiatives;
  • To develop innovative and sustainable solutions.

Expected outcomes

The PARTNERSHIP will develop a tool to monitor and measure equity of access in member states on an on-going basis. Through holistic collaboration with relevant EU-led or national initiatives, the PARTNERSHIP will provide a much needed space for creativity, coherence, and collaboration and propose sustainable solutions.

More information: our work on access to healthcare and health inequalities.