Closing the Gap Funding
The Health Foundation is currently looking for partnerships to be part of this year’s Closing the Gap - the award scheme dedicated to bridging the gap between current practice and best practice in healthcare. By tackling known gaps between the routine delivery of care and best practice, Closing the Gap aims to support demonstrable improvements, build the knowledge and skills of the workforce, and create approaches to transform the quality of healthcare in the UK.
This year it will fund eight awards of up to £400,000 each. Award holding teams will also benefit from a first class tailored learning and development programme. Each year, Closing the Gap has a distinct focus.
What is the focus of this year’s award scheme? This year’s Closing the Gap aims to transform the dynamic between people who use health services and those who provide them. People need to play an active role in their own care and receive support that is responsive to their needs in order to achieve the best health outcomes and experiences. Within the healthcare system, individuals, teams and services are already making these changes happen. There are many examples of this, including co-producing health, sharing decision making, supporting self-management, opening access to health records, and creating a culture that welcomes and acts on feedback. Yet these examples remain the exception rather than the norm, and the real challenge is implementing these on a large scale.
What are we looking for? The Closing the Gap awards are open to applications from across the UK, and we’re looking for proposals involving working partnerships with a real commitment to long-term change. These partnerships could include local clinical leaders, commissioners, providers, service users, national change agencies, professional bodies or the voluntary sector.
Interested? If you are interested in Closing the Gap please see here.