Innovation excellence is concentrated in a small group of countries driving better use of technology – Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and the UK - while other European countries are lagging behind.

The overall scores show a clear divide between the Northern European countries and those in Central and Eastern Europe, reflecting a relationship between economic and healthcare system performance.

However, Mediterranean countries score very highly on the Health Status Vital Sign, which suggests that health status is also linked to wider cultural factors.

The Quality Vital Sign scores are closely linked to patient outcomes, suggesting that countries with the highest quality of health systems are those which improve patient outcomes the most.