Remote and Rural Primary Care Research and Evaluation funding opportunity

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Funding opportunity available for research and evaluation in primary care.

Details and how to apply

If you work within primary care in one of Scotland’s rural or remote areas1 then you could be eligible for research and evaluation funding from the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care. The Centre has been able to identify funding to support NHS primary care practitioners2 who wish to carry out research or evaluation activities pertinent to remote and rural health and care in Scotland. Applications for funding are invited for 2024/25 and this is offered without commitment or setting precedent for future years. 

To be eligible, you must work within primary care that is located within and/or serves a rural or remote area in Scotland. We anticipate that each individual application will be for no more than £5,000 but higher value awards may be made depending on the project. You must be able to demonstrate that the work or activity will result in either/both of the following benefits: 

  1. Makes a contribution to the evidence-base for remote, rural, and island health and care research or evaluation.
  2. Increases your professional development as a remote, rural or island primary care practitioner. 

 

Funding applications will be considered for: 

  1. Postgraduate research e.g., Masters, PhD, EdD, MRes etc. 
  2. Other professional development work where it can be shown to contribute to post-graduate level remote, rural, and island research and/or evaluation.
  3. Publication costs, e.g. journal articles, open access articles etc. 

 

Selection criteria 

  • The applicant must be a Primary Care practitioner living and/or working in a remote, rural or island area. 
  • The research / evaluation should be aligned to NES’ strategic vision and values. 
  • The research / evaluation should match the aims and objectives of the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care. 
  • The research / evaluation (or part thereof being applied for) must not have received financial support from any other source. 
  • The research / evaluation should have a clear and identifiable focus on remote, rural, or island health and care in Scotland. 
  • The research / evaluation can be shown to meet one or both of the benefits identified above. 
  • The research / evaluation should meet one or more of our themes as detailed in the table below. 
  • Applicants must agree to share their work with the National Centre via the routes outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Award Acceptance.

 

How to apply 

Applications for funding should be submitted via our online application Form in the first instance. Please make sure you have completed all sections of the form and included evidence of the amount being requested where appropriate (pro-forma, receipt, invoice etc.). Failure to include this may result in your application being disregarded. 

The Funding Selection Panel will use the agreed selection criteria to review and score each application. They will then discuss final scorings at the next available panel review meeting (see below for dates) and all applicants will be notified of the outcome within five working days of the review meeting and may be invited to meet with a member of the selection panel to discuss the project in greater detail.

The final deadline for submissions is 1st March 2025, or on the allocation of all available funding – whichever occurs first so early application is encouraged.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your idea with us before submission please contact Prof. Sarah-Anne Munoz sarah-anne.munoz@nhs.scot

 

Panel Review Meetings

Three panel review meetings are scheduled throughout the year for panel members to review applications and agree on outcome decisions. These meetings are provisionally set for the following dates, but are subject to change according to service need:

  1. Wednesday 28th August 2024 (rescheduled from Thursday 1st August 2024)
  2. Wednesday 13th November 2024
  3. Wednesday 5th March 2025

 

Terms and Conditions of Award

Applicants agree to the following terms and conditions in the event of their application being awarded funding:

  • All funded work must achieve one of the following two benefits: 
  • Contributes to the evidence-base for remote, rural, and island health and care research or evaluation.  
  • Increases your professional development as a remote, rural or island primary care practitioner. 
  • The person / team being funded must commence the work detailed in the application by the end of the 2024/25 funding period. 
  • The person / team being funded agrees to share their work with the National Centre via one of the following routes: 
  • Live/pre-recorded presentation at an end-of-year research and evaluation symposium. 
  • Poster presentation to be submitted to the National Centre team. 
  • Presentation of project through the National Centre’s Remote and Rural Series of Learning Events
  • End of project brief / report (minimum 800 words) in a template provided by the National Centre team. 
  • The person / team being funded agree to only spend the funding allocation on the work detailed in the application. Any spending of the funding allocation out with that included in the application may result in forfeiture of some or all of funding award. 
Our research / evaluation themes for 2024-25
Themes

Access to healthcare

Health inequalities

Workforce issues

Community engagement and empowerment

Mental health and well being

Telehealth and technology

Aging population

Rural health infrastructure

Rural health equity

Environmental and occupational health

Emergency and disaster preparedness

Long term monitoring and evaluation

 

Data infrastructure and research collaboration

 

Information Sessions

If you are thinking of applying for funding but would like to know more, or ask us questions about the funding opportunity, we are hosting information sessions throughout the year to give you the opportunity to do just that.

Click on one of the dates below to register:

Tuesday 13th August 2-3pm (rescheduled from 23rd July)

Wednesday 30th October 2-3pm

Thursday 20th February 10-11am

Footnotes

[1] Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[1] Primary care is the first point of contact with the NHS. This includes community-based services provided by general practitioners (GPs), community nurses, dentists, dental nurses, optometrists, dispensing opticians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.