A £2.4 million award scheme aiming to improve the quality of primary care was launched today by The Health Foundation. Through the Engaging with Quality in Primary Care award scheme the Foundation will support up to six projects that aim to engage clinicians in achieving measurable and sustainable improvements in clinical quality.
The Health Foundation is looking to fund projects that focus on conditions commonly presented in primary care. Applications will also be considered that focus on the common health needs of a population group, such as children. Successful applications will identify a gap in the quality of clinical care in comparison to best practice and will outline how the project team will bridge this gap by implementing activities in order to bring about improvements in the quality of patient care.
Wendy Buckley, Assistant Director at The Health Foundation, said, “The ultimate test for the quality of healthcare is what happens at the point of care for patients. Over 80% of contact between the public and the health service takes place in primary care settings and yet there is a gap between known best practice and every day care. The Engaging with Quality in Primary Care award scheme offers busy clinicians the resources to involve themselves more fully in clinical quality improvement initiatives. The investment we are making is hugely important and we are excited about the prospect of funding up to six projects with the potential to make real, on the ground changes.”
Any organisation can apply for an award if they are able to demonstrate that their project will effectively engage primary care clinicians. All projects must be led by clinicians, but where the lead clinicians are specialists, primary care clinicians must also be significantly involved in the project implementation. Project proposals must also include plans to involve patients and service users in all aspects of the proposals. Organisations can apply independently or in partnership.
Detailed information about the Engaging with Quality in Primary Care award scheme can be found at: http://www.health.org.uk/ourawards/awards/index.cfm?id=75 The deadline for outline applications is 31 March 2006. Engaging with Quality in Primary Care builds on The Health Foundation’s Engaging with Quality Initiative which launched in September 2004.
Notes to editors
About the Engaging with Quality Initiative
The Engaging with Quality Initiative was launched in 2004 and is worth a total of £4 million. The awards support multi-professional teams, including patients or their representatives, to set up and run systems for measuring the quality of clinical care compared with best practice and to use the results to make improvements. In April 2005, The Health Foundation made eight awards to Royal Colleges and professional organisations. As part of the award scheme, each team receives support and leadership development enabling them to learn from each other and national and international experts, to find the best ways of involving clinicians in driving forward quality improvement and to spread their learning nationwide. To read more about the organisations involved and details of their project visit: http://www.health.org.uk/ourawards/clinicians/index.cfm?id=73