Health Minister, Simon Harris has asked health and social care providers to pitch their ideas for initiatives that will support the delivery of integrated care and the shift to community care in innovative new ways and help to reduce and prevent hospital visits.
The Minister is seeking the ideas as part of the €20 million Slaintecare Integration Fund for new models of health and social care, which he launched last Friday.
The deadline for applications is Thursday April 18, 2019.
Mr. Harris said successful service delivery projects would clearly demonstrate how citizens could be offered the right care in the right place at the right time.
“They will offer new approaches to sickness prevention, hospital avoidance, and the delivery of care in the community.
“The Integration Fund will focus on supporting the development of existing and new best practice projects that are capable of being scaled nationally, and which will:
- Promote the engagement and empowerment of citizens in the care of their own health
- Scale and share examples of best practice and processes for chronic disease management and care of older people
- Encourage innovations in the shift of care to the community or provide hospital avoidance measures.”
An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “Sláintecare is our ten year cross party plan to significantly improve and modernise the health service.”
“However, we certainly don’t think we have a monopoly on good ideas, and we now want to hear directly from health and social care providers on how we can better provide care in the community.”
“Through this €20m Integration Fund, we can put good ideas into action and share best practice to help care for people closer to home and keep them out of hospital.”
Mr. Harris said finding, supporting and scaling innovative new ways of providing care was fundamental to delivering Sláintecare.
“With the entirety of the €20m Integration Fund earmarked to be spent in 2019, the first full year of Sláintecare implementation, it underlines the Government’s commitment to ensuring the resources and tools are in place to deliver the Sláintecare vision. This €20m fund is in addition to the existing funding commitments made to support the implementation of Sláintecare via the 2019 estimates process.”
Guidance for Applicants
The Sláintecare Integration Fund is seeking submissions with a focus on community care and integration of care across all health and social care settings.
Submitted projects must be in a position to be implemented in 2019.
Projects that can demonstrate partnership working and that are co-funded will be particularly welcomed.
How to Apply
A guide to the application process is available on the Department of Health website. Applications are to be submitted via email to PitchToSláintecare@health.gov.ie
