Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has today (Monday) announced the successful applicants for the €20 million Sláintecare Integration Fund.
Over 477 projects applied for the Integration Fund and 122 projects from across the country were successful.
The successful projects meet the goals outlined under Sláintecare:
• demonstrate innovative ways in which citizens can engage in their own health;
• represent best practice in the management of chronic diseases and caring for older people, and;
• encourage innovations in shift of care to the community or promote hospital avoidance.
Speaking at the launch of the Integration Fund today, Minister Harris said: “The successful Sláintecare Integration Fund projects are leading examples of how innovative thinking can bring about meaningful and long-lasting change to health and social care in Ireland.
“These projects show how joined-up thinking and working in partnership can help us reach Sláintecare’s goals of shifting the majority of care to the community, reducing waiting lists and improving experiences for patients and staff across the health and social care system in Ireland. I look forward to seeing the end results of these projects and how they might be scaled up.”
Welcoming today's announcement, Minister of State for Health Promotion Catherine Byrne said: "I am pleased to see so many successful projects with a focus on prevention and on empowering people and communities to be more engaged in their own health and wellbeing. I particularly welcome the many projects which focus on more socially excluded groups and communities. The innovation and best practice that all these projects represent will be of great value to the work underway in every county to implement Healthy Ireland as a key part of the Sláintecare vision."
Laura Magahy, Sláintecare Executive Director said: “This is a very important milestone for Sláintecare. These projects demonstrate the innovative ways we can work in partnership to deliver Sláintecare’s goals.
“The Sláintecare Integration Fund projects will test new ways in which we can bring care closer to home, including putting the patient at the centre of service design and delivery. The standard of applications we received across all categories was of an exceptional standard, and the successful projects exemplify how we can work in partnership to deliver the Sláintecare vision of the right care in the right place at the right time.”
The successful projects are in more than 100 locations right across the country. The project partners range from hospitals, hospital groups, Community Health Organisations, Community and Voluntary Organisations, Universities and Primary Care Centres. Many successful projects will be delivered in partnership between hospitals and CHOs, or hospitals and community organisations, highlighting the emphasis on integrated care and shifting care to the community.
The Minister made today’s announcement in Fatima Groups United Family Resource Centre, who were successful with their project “Dublin 8 Social Prescribing Project”. The project will strengthen the links with the existing healthcare practitioners in health and social care services, expand community programmes that respond to people’s needs within the area covering issues such as stress and anxiety, exercise and healthy eating, education, and social Integration. The project will also deliver a comprehensive evaluation that illustrates the need for social prescribing on a national basis.
ALONE B Connect is a national project that aims to facilitate older people staying healthy in their homes for longer. ALONE B Connect will combine technology and expanded community services to support elderly people at home.
The COPD Integrated Care Project in Waterford University Hospital, run with South-East Community Healthcare is focusing on improving experiences for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The project aims to reduce COPD patients using the emergency department, reduce hospital admissions for COPD patients, and reduce the length of eventual hospital stays through improved integrated care.
In Sligo, Leitrim and West Cavan, Diabetes patients will have expanded access to GP and Primary Care settings for the care and management of their condition. Patient experiences will be more positive thanks to being able to access care locally, and hospital appointments will be reduced.
Minister Harris concluded: “The announcement of these successful applicants is an important milestone in the delivery of the 2019 Sláintecare Action Plan. The €20m Integration Fund underlines the Government’s commitment to ensuring the resources and tools are in place to deliver the Sláintecare vision.”
Notes to the Editor
List of successful applicants to the €20m Sláintecare Integration Fund attached.
About the €20m Sláintecare Integration Fund
Budget 2019 provided €20 million for the establishment of a new ring-fenced Sláintecare Integration Fund to test and scale how services can best be delivered. The Sláintecare Integration Fund sought submissions with a focus on community care and integration of care across all health and social care settings.
Submitted projects must have been in a position to begin implementation in 2019. Projects that could demonstrate partnership working and that are co-funded were particularly welcome.
Applications were invited for projects that 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
About Sláintecare
Sláintecare represents cross-party political consensus on the future of our health and social care services that is unique in the history of the State. Built on consensus Sláintecare is a ten-year programme to transform our health and social care services. Over the next ten years, Sláintecare will:
• Promote the health of our population to prevent illness
• Provide the majority of care at or closer to home
• Create a system where care is provided on the basis of need not ability to pay
• Move our system from long waiting times to a timely service – especially for those who need it most
• Create an integrated system of care, with healthcare professionals working closely together
Under the Programme for a Partnership Government, an All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare was established in June 2016 to create a cross-party vision for the future of our health and social care services. The Committee sat for almost a year, engaging with stakeholders across the system and published the Sláintecare Report in May 2017.
The Sláintecare 2019 Action Plan sets out the project management structures and governance approach for the 10-year implementation of Sláintecare and the actions and milestones for 2019. The Sláintecare 2019 Action Plan is available on the Department of Health website.
The Sláintecare 2019 Action Plan establishes the building blocks for a significant shift in the way in which health services are delivered in Ireland. It seeks to deliver on the Future of Healthcare Committee’s vison of a health system in which care is provided in the right place, at the right time, by the right person.
Sláintecare Integration Fund Projects.