Press release
Minister Donnelly publishes Sláintecare Integration Fund End of Programme Report
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has today published the Sláintecare Integration Fund End of Programme Report.
The report sets out the notable achievements reported by the 123 projects funded through the Sláintecare Integration Fund. The projects tested new ways of working and delivered innovative models of care, bringing care closer to home by putting the patient at the centre of service design and delivery.
The significant impacts of the projects on patients and the healthcare system is highlighted throughout the report. It sets out the hospital admissions avoided, Emergency Department (ED) attendances avoided or the reduction in waiting lists.
It also highlights the impact felt by patients and their families where waiting times improved or journey times to receive treatment reduced.
Achievements include:
2 projects were supported to test a new Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) care pathway. Both projects were led and delivered by an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in community and outpatient facilities. The projects diverted treatment away from traditional consultant led clinics, creating a more streamlined efficient service and achieved a reduction in waiting lists. They also reported a 100% patient satisfaction based on initial feedback.
The Headache clinic project was successfully tested in 3 sites and was a collaboration between the HSE, GPs, the Migraine Association of Ireland and local pharmacies. This project has established new protocols for management of headache, that provide for trained nurse prescribers who work alongside neurologists with expertise in headache. The project has resulted in reduced referrals to OPD and a significant increase in capacity for new patients to be seen at OPD by Medical Clinicians. This project achieved a 23% (182 patients) reduction in waiting lists.
4 projects funded by the Sláintecare Integration Fund provided a range of community-based Ophthalmology services. The Adult Integrated Eye Care Team in CHO 7 is a collaboration with Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital and College of Ophthalmology. This integrated pathway of care was designed by the National Clinical Programme for Ophthalmology to address an over reliance on hospital delivered care by providing community pre- and postoperative assessment targeting adult patients with chronic disease and adult patients requiring pre & post-operative cataract care. Outcomes to date include:
Welcoming the publication of the report, Minister Donnelly said:
"The projects highlighted in this report 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 firmly believe that our frontline healthcare workers are one of the greatest resources we have as a nation. We know we have the brightest and most highly skilled and motivated workforce; they know where improvements can be implemented and, through the Sláintecare Integration Fund projects, they demonstrated their leadership and innovation to develop and implement alternative ways of meeting the needs of patients.
"I want to sincerely thank all our health and social care professionals for their dedication and commitment to delivering safe, timely and high-quality care to patients.
"Congratulations to the frontline staff delivering these projects, who have shown true resilience and flexibility and have achieved amazing results in the toughest of times."
Budget 2019 provided €20 million for the establishment of a new ring-fenced Sláintecare Integration Fund to test, scale and share best practices on how services are delivered.
The Sláintecare Integration Fund sought submissions with a focus on prevention, community care and integration of care across all health and social care settings.
Finding, supporting and scaling innovative new ways of providing care is fundamental to delivering Sláintecare. The Integration Fund looked for initiatives that support the delivery of integrated care and the shift to community care in new and innovative ways, helping to reduce and prevent hospital visits. This will support us in meeting our ultimate goal of reducing waiting lists and reducing waiting times.
Applications were invited which:
A total of 477 applications were received from a wide range of organisations. The process was very competitive with the fund being 9 times oversubscribed. 123 projects from across the country were selected and funded.
Over 320 additional staff were recruited to the projects, providing additional capacity in the health system, 64% of these new roles were in nursing and HSCP and included specialists in nursing, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietician, advanced nurse practitioners, consultants, cardiology, ophthalmology, link workers for social prescribing, community development workers, and administrative support staff.
The testing of 4 of the Sláintecare Integration Fund projects has fed directly into the new patient care pathway design process which is currently taking forward the development and finalisation of 73 individual care pathways across 16 specialities in the HSE. These projects, through a shift of patient care from hospital to community services led to reductions in waiting lists and waiting times for specific categories of patients on Urology, Neurology and Ophthalmology waiting lists.
106 of 123 projects have been funded by the Department of Health for mainstreaming in NSP 2021 & 2022 which means they will receive recurring funding annually and another 4 have potential to be mainstreamed following completion of their review this year. The decision to mainstream was made following evaluation of the projects, based on their strategic alignment and delivery of their planned outputs and outcomes.