HCF Research Foundation announces Health Service Innovation in Australia

Health services research examines how people access health care, how much it costs and what happens to patients as a result of this care. The HCF Research Foundation funds research proposals that use and enhance current knowledge to improve healthcare outcomes, including the quality, efficiency and equity of and access to health services.

Through the Health Services Research Grants scheme, the HCF Research Foundation aims to support projects with major potential for significant impact; to deliver better health outcomes and access to affordable, high-quality health care when and where it is needed.

Applicants must clearly articulate the excellence of their project, and costing must be realistic and competitive. Applicants should also be aware that HCF RF prefers to fund a larger number of smaller projects rather than a smaller number of large projects.

Theme and Topics 

• Each year the HCF Research Foundation invites applicants to apply for funding for health services research projects that address one or more nominated topics. The 2024 Health Services Research Grants round will focus on specific research areas of interest within the following three major topics. Additional guidance is provided to enable researchers to ensure their EOIs align with the call.
  • Co-design approaches to develop and evaluate innovative solutions and models of care that optimise the existing healthcare workforce capacity to improve patient outcomes and experience. 
    • Guidance:
      • Are looking for new models of care that are utilising the current workforce at top of scope and at optimal points in health care journeys to better deliver healthcare for improved patient outcomes and experience.
      • Not looking to fund research that creates new roles in existing models of care. Projects should look to better utilise existing resources and capacity.
      • Patients and carers are resources and capacity and can be considered part of the workforce for this topic.
      • Not looking for initiatives that address workforce wellbeing (such as resilience, burnout etc.).
  • Strategies for the identification and remediation of bias in healthcare provision. 
  • Guidance:
    • Examples of bias include (but are not limited to): race, culture, gender, etc.
    • Are looking for quantifiable evidence of the existence of bias and design/adaptation of an appropriate intervention to remove unwanted clinical variation in outcomes and patient experience due to that bias.
  • Addressing the challenges of implementing and sustaining viability of new alternatives to hospital care. 
    • Guidance:
      • Are looking for projects that consider delivery of new models of care outside of hospital settings.
      • Viability includes economic factors and funding mechanisms, as well as addressing barriers to uptake identified by health care professionals, patients and their carers, and the need for integration within the existing primary care system.
      • Are looking for projects that address governance and clinical oversight while aiming to reduce issues associated with fragmentation of health care.
      • The ability for models to be translated into practice is critical, with broad applicability and ability to scale.

Funding Information

• There is a limited amount of funding available each year. Applicants are advised that there is an upper funding limit of $500,000 available, with no limit on the duration of the project.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be successful applications must meet the HCF Research Foundation mission of improving health and wellbeing outcomes for HCF members and all Australians, by increasing the evidence base in the delivery of effective health care services.
• Additionally, applications must directly address one of the listed topics above. EOIs that do not address both the mission and one or more topic will be rejected outright
• A single reputable academic research institution must be nominated as the Administering Institution. It is expected that projects will be managed under the auspices of a university, hospital, or research institution – please contact them prior to submitting your application if your proposed Administering Institution does not clearly sit within one of those categories. The administering institution must have in place policies and procedures for the management of research funds, management of intellectual property, and for the conduct of research consistent with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.
• Each application must have a single nominated lead investigator who is the primary individual responsible for delivering the program of research should it be funded. There is a limit of one application per individual lead investigator. However, there is no limit to the number of applications on which an individual may be listed as a co-investigator.
• Collectively, the investigator team must show evidence of successfully leading a program of academic research. This evidence can be through publications, research impacts and/or previous funding awards.
• The lead investigator must be an Australian citizen, New Zealand citizen, or otherwise have the right to live and work in Australia throughout the proposed grant period. Awarded grants are generally not transferable to an alternative lead investigator, nor are they transferable to an administering institution based outside of Australia.
• A maximum of 5 Co-Investigators can be included in any application. Co-Investigators are those key individuals involved in the research application whose participation is required for successful completion of the project. Evidence of research productivity will also be required for Co-Investigators. Associate Investigators may also be listed in the application. It is appropriate for individuals with minor supporting roles and input in the research program to be listed as Associate Investigators. The roles of each Co-Investigator and Associate Investigator should be adequately described and justified.

For more information, visit HCF Research Foundation.