Deadline: 24 September 2018

The Health Foundation is currently seeking applications for its 2018 Efficiency Research Programme that aims to research ideas on the new ways of thinking that generate new knowledge with a focus on labour productivity and workforce retention within health and social care.

The Efficiency Research Programme is a £1.8m open call for innovative research ideas into issues of efficiency and sustainability that have the potential to make a transformational difference to health and social care provision in the UK.

Priority Areas

• Advance understanding of labour productivity in health and social care to bring about financial sustainability: This theme will explore how innovative research can generate a more nuanced understanding of workforce productivity. It will shine a light on the drivers and reasons for variations in workforce productivity that will help us better understand which drivers are amenable to practice and policy intervention. This theme would include methodological development for measuring working force productivity at macro level (eg system or integrated system level), at a meso level (eg a Trust, primary or secondary care, geographical area, etc) or at a micro level (eg operational units of health or social care, team productivity, etc).
• Advance understanding of workforce retention in health and social care to bring about workforce sustainability: This theme will explore the causality of enhanced retention on performance and patient care outcomes. It will shine a light on the drivers and reasons for variation in workforce retention that will help us better understand the types of intervention that are amenable to improving retention. As above, this theme may also cover research undertaken at the macro, meso and micro level.

Grant Information

• The Health Foundation has £1.8 million to fund ambitions for this third round of the ERP.
• The Foundation anticipate funding up to five research projects through the programme, with budgets in the range of £250,000 to £500,000.
• Applicants may submit an application below £250,000, but they should be able to justify how their project will support objectives for this programme to make a significant contribution at that scale.
• In exceptional circumstances, The Foundation may consider funding a research idea beyond maximum of £500,000. However, applicants will need to present an excellent case for this based on the additional value and impact of the proposal.

Selection Criteria and Eligibility

Research proposals will be assessed against the following key criteria:

• fit with scope, with a focus on proposals in priority areas
• strength of case that the research will lead to increased knowledge in the areas of labour productivity and/or workforce retention in the health and social care workforce
• the potential size of, and/or the likelihood of, generating impact on inefficiency and waste
• usefulness and generalisability of anticipated findings across services, settings and systems
• robust research methods
• appropriate project management approach, including risk management and quality assurance
• value for money
• relevant experience and expertise of the research team, and strength of partnerships and collaborations.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply online via given website.

Eligible Country: United Kingdom

For more information, please visit Efficiency Research Programme.