through primary care or in the community. In the same
way that rates of obesity reflect the success or failure
of efforts to change behaviour, outcomes of health
care reflect the end-points of quality and safety processes
of care.
There is at present little information collected
and reported about clinical practice guidelines that
provide information to those delivering care on the
appropriateness of health care interventions (diagnostic
and treatment services). Well-developed and
implemented guidelines can potentially avoid overtreating
individuals who do not stand to benefit and,
at the same time, ensure that those who could benefit
are identified and receive treatment. One example
is the rate of caesarean sections as a percentage of
all live births. While there are clear medical grounds
for delivery by caesarean section in many pregnancies,
unneeded caesarean sections can compromise
the quality of care and can be riskier, with more
complications and possibly increased mortality than
normal deliveries (12). The rate of caesarean section
deliveries reported for Portugal has been increasing
since 2000 and is over twice the WHO suggested
upper limit of 15% (12). Portugal’s rate was the second
highest among the EU 15 countries in 2007.
Data on adverse events such as hospital-acquired
infections, medication errors and drug-resistant infections
would permit a critical analysis of trends in
safety over time and a comparison with results from
other health systems. Unfortunately, information
about these measures is presently very limited and
difficult to access. Although health care institutions
and providers may be monitoring these rates and
using them for performance improvement, the data
are not systematically collected and used to track
overall system performance.
Skin ulcers and falls among patients in long-term
care can have serious implications for morbidity and
mortality among patients in these facilities. Good risk
assessment practices and attention to care for these
patients may help to avoid some of these events
(44,45). There is no historical information available to
assess trends in performance, and comparisons with
results for other health systems using consistent definitions
are not available. However, there is significant
variability in these rates among regions, suggesting
that improvement in some regions and individual
institutions may be possible.
With respect to outcomes of care, it is also important
to consider that for services such as long-term