Closing the Gap through Clinical Communities aims to improve the quality of care delivered to patients by bridging the gap between known best practice and the routine delivery of care.
Background to the awards
The Health Foundation will run Closing the Gap awards annually from 2008 to 2012. Applications for the new scheme closed in March 2009.
Closing the Gap awards will fund improvement activities over about two years, with an award up to £475k. Of this, approximately 20% will pay for learning and development for award holders. The scope of learning and development will be areas relevant to quality improvement: knowledge about systems, a commitment to measurement and an understanding of variation, a willingness to utilise the behavioural sciences in order to exercise influence and create a conducive environment, and an understanding of the nature of knowledge.
The focus of each annual round of Closing the Gap may vary. The focus of the first round is quality improvement projects led by clinicians who have a track record as influential leaders in their clinical networks.
The awards build on two earlier Foundation schemes, the Engaging with Quality Initiative (EWQI) and Engaging with Quality in Primary Care (EWQPC).
Aims of Closing the Gap through Clinical Communities
The aims of Closing the Gap through Clinical Communities are:
- to build the knowledge and skills of clinical teams in how to make improvements in the quality of care
and
- to contribute to the creation of a systematic body of knowledge concerning how best to engage clinicians in quality improvement activity and in particular how best to stimulate learning about quality improvement amongst health professionals
and thereby
- to support clinical communities to make demonstrable improvements in quality by tackling known gaps between best practice and routine delivery of care.