Lise Tevik Løvseth (editor) - Integrating the organization of health services, worker wellbeing and quality of care : towards healthy healthcare

The topic and handbook of Healthy Healthcare is timely as it is apparent that health systems in Europe and worldwide perform a difficult balancing act between increasing demands on healthcare services with restricted funds and resources available. While the workforce within nursing and the medical profession is declining, there is a steady increase in healthcare demands, and the health systems are under utmost pressure. In 2020, we even face a global crisis due to the onset of an unexpected pandemic COVID-19, resulting in increased work pressure and difficult challenges in organizing health care.

Healthcare systems need to cope with all these challenges that are caused by unexpected developments like COVID-19, but also other developments like an ageing population, an increasingly diverse population as a result of migration and conflict, the growth in chronic diseases, increased costs of newer drugs, new medical technologies, health inequalities and increased public expectations that go beyond medical problems.

Healthy Healthcare is a guide for anyone who is interested in healthcare practices and who wants to develop resource-efficient practices that benefits the workers and patients. Lvseth and De Langes perspective of Healthy Healthcare has the potential to advance healthcare practices and associated research and knowledge production that benefits global healthcare delivery. The interdisciplinary and national examples of healthcare practices provide us insights that help us to perform more interdisciplinary knowledge, focus on health care in the context and overcome fragmentation of knowledge. These powerful discoveries will not only stimulate local and national healthcare practicesthey can also inspire us to foster community, systemic and social change.

The book is a must-read as it is one of the first books to create a comprehensive and interdisciplinary synthesis on how different parameters of workers health and performance actually affect the patients health and safety, and ultimately the delivery of high-quality healthcare services. This book will therefore contribute significantly to new research as well as practices to create more healthy healthcare situations.

I can highly recommend the handbook for a great audience, ranging from students to healthcare professionals, but also governmental policymakers like myself.

was appointed Secretary General at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in June 2015. During his many years of government service, he has gained experience in a wide range of fields. As Secretary General, he is not only in charge of the general governance of the Ministry, but he is also responsible for the Macroeconomic Issues and Labour Market Department and the Financial and Economic Affairs Department of the Ministry.

Mr. Gerritsen began his career at the Ministry of Finance. In 1996, he was appointed Director Financial and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he became Deputy Secretary General in 1999. In 2000, he made the transition to the Municipality of Amsterdam. As City Manager of Amsterdam, he was the primary advisor to the College of Mayor and Alderpersons. He was ultimately responsible for services in the city and for representing the City of Amsterdam in various regional, national and European matters. From 2007 until 2009, he was ambassador for knowledge of the Municipality. In 2009, he became Chairman of the Amsterdam Regional Youth Protection Agency.

Erik Gerritsen was born in The Hague in 1962 and studied political science at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and information management at the Amsterdam University. He also holds a Ph.D. in change management at the Amsterdam University.