OBJECTIVES: Healthcare systems (HCS) across Europe experience variable levels of performance across many indicators, as countries implement different policies and strategies within the health sector. The objective of this research is to compare the Irish HCS with that of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) using a range of different performance indicators.

METHODS: 23 indicators measuring health outcomes for the following areas were collected using OECD data from 2015-2019: hospitalisation rates for heart failure, chronic obstruction pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, cancer survival and screening rates (from 2010-2014), waiting times for hip surgery, in-hospital mortality and infection rates and inpatient care figures. The average for each individual area was calculated for all five years of data. Areas where there was only one rate published were excluded from this calculation.

RESULTS: The results showed that the Irish HCS was the worst performing, on average, for 9 of the 23 indicators analysed. Additionally, the Irish system was the 2^nd worst-performing in 4 other indicators and the best performing country in 2 of the indicators. The Icelandic system had produced the best performing HCS, on average, in 13 of the 23 indicators analysed.

CONCLUSIONS: The Irish HCS performed poorly when compared with the Nordic countries, evident in a number of the indicators analysed as part of this research, including: cancer survival rates, in-hospital waiting times, and COPD hospitalisation rates. These areas, amongst others, require improvement to ensure high quality care is being delivered within the Irish HCS. Improving the HCS could be achieved by drawing on the methods used within the Nordic systems. The Irish HCS could begin to place greater emphasis on introducing e-health initiatives, ensuring efficient healthcare spending, establishing integrated care pathways, and improving resources in the health sector overall to improve the quality of the health service.