Support to reforms in health workforce field - Initiatives on task-shifting (Heading 1.2.1.1 of the AWP 2020)

Deadline: Jun 10, 2020  
CALL EXPIRED

Background and purpose of the call:

The European health workforce is facing major challenges due to an ageing population, a higher demand of new primary care models and better-integrated and more patient-centred care, and rise of chronic diseases, in a broader context of persistent budgetary constraints. Moreover, the health workforce itself is ageing rapidly while financial cutbacks compound broader migration patterns and are causing severe health workforce shortages in various Member States. Finally, several EU regions are facing the problem of so-called “medical deserts” with falling number of medical practitioners. It becomes more than urgent to promote evidence-based reforms to address the challenges that the European health workforce is facing, through actions focusing on retention policies, medical deserts and task shifting.

Targeted beneficiaries: Legally established organisations, public authorities, healthcare providers, health professional associations, public sector bodies (in particular, research and health institutions, universities and higher education establishments in Member States and other participating countries).

Objectives pursued and expected results of the initiative:

The objective of the initiative is to provide support to Member States to design and implement their policies related to healthcare workforce retention, task-shifting and regional medical deserts.

This should be achieved through the development of supporting tools –guidelines, scaling up of good practices, creating a platform for policy dialogue to advance on these challenging issues.

The initiatives aim specifically at:

1. Identifying and analyzing factors related to the conception and implementation of reforms on retention policies, medical deserts and task-shifting, and developing practical guidelines for the public authorities and healthcare providers which will serve as the operational tools supporting their healthcare workforce policies in relation to challenges in these fields;
2. Analyzing and suggesting possible changes in the legal and policy environment and ways to provide incentives to remove legal and other barriers to the recruitment and retention of healthcare workforce in underserved areas;
3. Implementing effective strategies, identifying best practices and facilitating the exchange of these practices including at regional or local level (e.g. through information sessions), assessing the suitability/ground for broader practice dissemination;
4. Contributing to a network on health workforce linked to the EU health policy platform (EU-HPP)[1], to ensure the sustainability of results achieved under individual projects , continuation of dissemination and scale up of best practices amongst Member States beyond the action's term;
5. Organizing workshops and seminars to ensure joint reflection among the actors participating in the selected initiatives and relevant experts and, when relevant, cross-fertilisation of ideas across the three areas of reforms at stake;
6. Enhancing knowledge, including by targeted studies and reports related to the development of retention policies, the development of policies on medical deserts, and the implementation of task-shifting projects;
7. Providing practical training and developing educational material, which could be further exploited by public authorities and healthcare providers engaged in the health workforce field;
8. Organising events to present the lessons learnt and the guidelines to the relevant public authorities and healthcare providers.

Description of the activities to be funded under this topic:

The action will finance Initiatives on task-shifting carried out by hospitals and other healthcare providers at community level. This could take the form, inter alia, of practical and analytical work needed by the hospitals and the other healthcare providers for the conception, implementation and assessment of their task-shifting projects as well as any other form of support in the implementation of these projects, such as, for instance, teambuilding, twinning, proposals for revision of curricula, creating access to life-long learning opportunities for healthcare professionals to update/upgrade/complement their skills.

Activities to be carried out under such an initiative may include, but are not limited to:

• Updating or updatability of existing workforce planning tools to incorporate possible changes based on task-shifting and automation;
• Good practices for the introduction of task-shifting from patient safety/health system performance perspective
• developing a curricula for digital/interpersonal/management skills for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals, social and peer workers;
• recommendations regarding impact of new skills (i.e. digital tools, disease prevention and risk detection); reskilling of health professionals and new health professions on the future of the healthcare and its workforce;; the effects of changing skill mixes and competencies across sectors and occupational groups;
• recommendations regarding future skills of health professionals to adapt to new developments (for ex. upscale skills of nurses, digital skills of health professionals, new types of IT specialists in medical area)

All proposed actions should take into account, complement and build upon previously available data/actions, in order to bring added-value and avoid duplications.

The allocation of resources within the consortium shall focus on the implementation of initiatives in the partner organizations. Organizations in the consortium shall explain their role and their specific contribution to the project in line with the text and requirements of the call.

The proposals shall include a methodology for impartially evaluating the progress made on implementing proposed initiatives throughout the duration of the project. The methodology for the evaluation should be thought as formative, helping the partners to adapt their initiatives as necessary. This activity could be dedicated to a specific partner organization within the consortium with the appropriate expertise or it can be subcontracted. Specific work package and deliverable(s) should be introduced in the proposal (Mandatory work package 3 on evaluation).

The projects under this call shall closely work together and make use of synergies amongst them as much as possible. Projects under this call shall furthermore contribute to the specific “Health Workforce” forum in the Health Policy Platform.

Expected impact:

Support Members States in constantly improve designing and implementing their policies related to healthcare workforce retention, task-shifting and regional medical deserts.

Enhance the knowledge base and practical tools for the conception and implementation of reforms on retention policies, medical deserts and task-shifting.

The funded action should also lead to creating a community of actors experienced in healthcare workforce issues with the aim of, inter alia :

• sharing best practices and lessons learned from pilot projects and from institutions with higher expertise and transformation experiences;
• developing tools to disseminate them and stimulate activities in less advanced institutions.

Budget

The Commission considers that proposals requesting an EU contribution of approx. 400.000 EUR and a duration of 36 month would appropriately address the specific workforce related challenges. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submissions and selection of proposals requesting other amounts or duration.

Available budget for this topic: 800.000 EUR (indicative expected projects between 2 and 3).

The grant agreement(s) will be awarded to those ranked highest, up to the available budget of 800.000 EUR (EU-Contribution).

[1]https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/hpf/