During a pandemic, healthcare quality can make or break a nation. Those who have perceived their healthcare system as poor are from countries that have had a weak pandemic strategy, faced capacity limits faster and had a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). 

The United Kingdom – notably England – has performed the worst in Europe. Several hospitals have declared ‘major incidents’ as they became overwhelmed with an influx of critical cases. It is therefore not surprising that only 25.5% of respondents from the country perceived their healthcare quality as good; 14.9% said it was poor. To contrast, 0.0% of German respondents perceived their sector as poor or very poor. Possible response factors that influenced this type of response would be local health authorities communicating with the central government, developing one of the world’s first diagnostic tests, limiting transmission in long-term care facilities and careful planning. Italian respondents ultimately sat in the middle with 41.2% saying it was acceptable, compared to 34.5% reporting it as good.