*Article* **Healthcare Management and Quality during the First COVID-19 Wave in a Sample of Spanish Healthcare Professionals**

**Patricia Torrent-Ramos 1,2, Víctor M. González-Chordá 2,\*, Desirée Mena-Tudela 2, Laura Andreu Pejó 2, Celia Roig-Marti 3, María Jesús Valero-Chillerón <sup>2</sup> and Águeda Cervera-Gasch <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The aim of this study was to assess how the healthcare professionals in the Castellón Province (Spain) perceive healthcare quality and management during the first COVID-19 wave. A cross-sectional study was carried out. An online survey on healthcare quality and management during the first COVID-19 wave was sent to healthcare professionals. Almost half of the sample believed that healthcare quality worsened during the first COVID-19 wave (45.3%; *n* = 173). Heavier workload (m = 4.08 ± 1.011) and patients' complexity (m = 3.77 ± 1.086) were the factors that most negatively impacted healthcare quality. Health department 3, primary care center, and other doctors assessed human and material resources management as significantly worse (*p* < 0.05). Human and material resources management and the healthcare organization negatively affected healthcare quality during the first COVID-19 wave. Significant differences were observed according to departments, services, and professionals.

**Keywords:** COVID-19 pandemic; coronavirus; nursing; medical staff; healthcare quality; human resources; primary care; hospitals; nursing home
