Towards a more resilient healthcare system during health emergencies
In a new 6-million-euro project funded by the Horizon Europe programme, a consortium of researchers from seven countries will develop new ways to make healthcare more flexible and resilient during pandemics and other health emergencies. Here, Pintail Limited’s roles are to lead the team in project management, communication and dissemination, administration, contract maintenance, reporting, and support to the wider consortium in all aspects of EU regulations and procedures.
‘During the COVID-19 pandemic, a great deal of regular healthcare across Europe was adjusted, postponed, or even stopped,’ says Aura Timen, Professor of Primary Care at Radboudumc in Nijmegen and coordinator of the new RAPIDE project. ‘The entire spectrum of care was disrupted, from elective surgeries to chronic conditions, cancer care, and mental health. Many people also chose to avoid necessary regular care and, for example, did not visit their general practitioner or hospital, despite having health problems.’
Disrupting or interrupting regular care during a pandemic or other health emergency can have long-term consequences for patients and healthcare systems. Learning from our experiences during COVID-19 and building on research into healthcare optimisation and forecasting, the new project will create and experiment with more flexible and adaptable ways to deliver healthcare. Greater use of community and at-home care can help to make acute hospital resources available to deal with crises; they can also help to improve healthcare efficiency during peacetime.
Patient-flows
Part of this research involves restructuring patient flows during health crises. Timen explains, ‘We are exploring whether we can relocate care. Can patients stay at home more often? And if so, what is needed for this? This relocation could involve tools closer to the patient, such as more online appointments or apps that provide training programs and directly report progress to the hospital or attending (primary care) physician.
Living labs
The research results, in the form of practical, flexible models of care delivery during health crises, will be tested in real-world settings known as living labs. Scenarios and care models will be explored and assessed in collaboration with healthcare providers and patients across hospitals and primary care in four European countries. Additionally, the study will explore how we can adapt such flexible care models to the healthcare systems of other European countries.
The four-year project is named RAPIDE, which stands for Regular and Unplanned Care Adaptive Dashboard for Cross-border Emergencies. The consortium includes institutions, companies, and organizations from Slovenia, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Malta, and Estonia, as well as the European Forum for Primary Care.
—–
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them