New programme invites corporate support services to improve quality of patient care

A new flagship £3.4 million programme to develop new ideas on how corporate support services and clinical teams can work together to improve the quality of care, has been launched by the Health Foundation.

Up to eight organisations will be selected to join the Shared Purpose programme and receive funding of £420,000 each over three and a half years to develop and test their ideas.

Proposals are invited from organisations with compelling ideas that involve a significant improvement in some aspect of corporate services, help the organisation address a critical challenge and will lead to demonstrable benefits to patients.

Jo Bibby, Director of Improvement Programmes, the Health Foundation said the programme, covering an overlooked area of healthcare improvement, was ‘ground-breaking’ and ‘timely’.

She said, ‘This is a major opportunity for providers to show how support services, such as estates, finance, human resources and IT, can work with clinical services to improve the quality of patient care. The current financial challenges facing the UK’s health services makes it even more critical that providers are able to successfully deliver major changes, that often require corporate as well as clinical change.’

Shared Purpose is open to all NHS trusts and other provider organisations including those working in partnership with the voluntary and private sector.

The Health Foundation wants proposals that are well thought-through and clearly show how corporate support services can link more effectively with clinical teams to achieve far-reaching improvements. The aim is to build an evidence base of best practice that can benefit the NHS as a whole.

In addition to the £420,000 package there will also be support for learning and development, with access to experts and advice to help organisations work on their ideas and evaluate them.

To qualify for the programme, the initiatives will need the active support of Chief Executives and board members and demonstrate wide stakeholder support.

The deadline for proposals to the first stage of the process is 4 January 2012.

For more information about the Shared Purpose programme and details of what organisations need to do to apply, visit www.health.org.uk/sharedpurpose