Resilience českého zdravotnického systému v reakci na příchod válečných uprchlíků z Ukrajiny
The Czech Healthcare System’s Resilience in Response to the Arrival of Ukrainian War Refugees

Summary/Abstract: The arrival of war refugees from Ukraine has tested the functionality of a number of Czech public and social policy systems. In this article, we focus on the healthcare system and its response to the new situation. We use the concept of health system resilience, which is the ability of a health system to maintain or improve access to health services while ensuring its long-term sustainability. We focus specifically on the absorptive capacity dimension. This refers to the ability of a healthcare system to continue to function well and provide the same level of basic health services (i.e. quantity, quality, and equity of access) and population protection even in a crisis – which in our case was the arrival of more than half a million Ukrainian war refugees – while using the same level of resources and capacity. We examine absorptive capacity using a qualitative approach. We conducted three focus groups with 20 intercultural mediators and social workers with experience accompanying Ukrainian refugee patients in the Czech healthcare system. We analysed the data using thematic analysis. Within the scope of the research we identified the key capacities and deficits of the individual dimensions of health system resilience (knowledge, uncertainty, legitimacy, interdependence) that affected the absorptive capacity of the Czech healthcare system during the refugee crisis and would have the similar effect in any other crisis.

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