THE MEATH FOUNDATION funding healthcare research, QUALITY IMPROVEMENT, education, Arts and Health at tallaght hospital
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUND REGULATIONS

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUND

REGULATIONS

The Quality Improvement Fund (QIF) Regulations specify the responsibilities of the applicant(s) when making application for funding and in accepting funding from The Meath Foundation for Quality Improvement initiatives across all 6 (six) dimensions

quality - safety

timeliness

efficiency

effectiveness

equity

patient centeredness

The operation of the QIF will be over-seen by The Meath Foundation Research Committee.

Coaching and mentoring for the applicants of the successful projects will be provided

by the Quality Lead, Tallaght Hospital.

Projects should not take longer than six months to complete.

Definitions

In these Regulations,

Foundation is The Meath Foundation;

Hospital is Tallaght Hospital;

Grant holder is the Lead applicant for the project for which a Quality Improvement Fund Grant has been awarded by the Foundation;

Conditions under which grants are awarded

The grant holder i.e. the Lead applicant, must be employed in a defined capacity by the Hospital or hold a contract with another institution e.g. Trinity College, Dublin with a contractual arrangement to work in the Hospital. If the grant holder is a qualified healthcare practitioner the Clinical Indemnity Scheme must cover the position held by the healthcare practitioner.

Grants will be assessed on the following criteria:

The originality of the proposed quality improvement initiative (to avoid duplication of other initiatives)

Relevance to public health (a programme marketable to the General Public)

Have a clearly defined goal in terms of a population that will be positively affected by the programme.

Be compatible with The Meath Foundation’s Mission, Vision and Aims and that of the Hospital.

15 minute oral presentation to the Assessors on the proposed project

Applicants must score 40 points or more to be shortlisted for oral presentation

All decisions of the Board of The Meath Foundation on the awarding of Grants are final.

Financial arrangements

The following are the financial arrangements pertaining to the granting of a Quality

Improvement Fund Grant:

2.1 Payments will be made through The Meath Foundation. Requests for payment must

be supported with relevant documentation e.g. invoices for goods/services received etc. and will be disbursed according to the terms of the letter of award.

2.2 Where it is necessary to employ an additional member of staff it is necessary to have

Consulted with the Human Resources Department prior to submitting the

Application to confirm the costs involved.

Expenditure from the award shall be limited to expenses properly and necessarily incurred for the successful completion of the approved Quality Improvement initiative. Any overhead costs must be made transparent and agreed with the Foundation before the awarding of the grant.

Funds awarded must be spent within 12 calendar months from the date formal notification of the award unless permission to extent the terms of the award is requested in writing and granted by The Meath Foundation.

Intellectual property

The Foundation recognises that the primary responsibility for quality improvement initiatives rests with the Applicant(s). The Applicant(s) has a duty to The Foundation to ensure that discoveries and advancements in knowledge arising from quality improvement initiatives funded by The Foundation are translated for public benefit e.g. by publication, by patenting or through securing Intellectual Property Rights.

The intellectual property rights to any Quality Improvement initiative funded by The Foundation will be in line with the ICSTI’s published National Code of Practice and any Code of Practice that succeeds it.

Responsibilities of the grant holder

4.1	Acknowledgement: The Grant holder undertakes to expressly acknowledge the support of The Meath Foundation in any published record of their project activities.

4.2	Good practice: The Foundation expects that the project will be carried out in accordance with the best practices and standards and in line with Hospital Polices.

4.3	Ethical approval: The grant holder shall confirm, in writing that ethical

approval, if required, has been obtained from the Joint Tallaght Hospital / St. James’s Hospital Ethical Committee for any project for which an award has been approved by the Foundation.

Financial arrangements:

4.4.1	The recipient of a QIF grant shall not accept or receive funding for the same

project from any source other than The Foundation without prior permission from The Foundation.

4.4.2	The grant holder may, in consultation with the Foundation, modify the aims and objectives of an approved project in order to follow advances / developments in healthcare.

The grant holder may not use any amount of an award for purposes not related to the project. To the extent that if any amount is used for purposes not related to the approved project, the same amount shall immediately become repayable to The Foundation.

5.	Reports and publications

5.1	The grant holder shall provide a final report to The Foundation on the project for which the award was made within three months following the end of the period for which the grant has been awarded. Grant holders, who do not comply with this requirement, will be deemed ineligible to apply for future Foundation funding. Failure to provide a Project Report will mean that the grant holder will be held liable for all monies expended.

5.2	The grant holder must make themselves available, to all reasonable requests from The Foundation, for their participation in activities relating to furthering the aims of The Foundation e.g. Research Symposium, Clinical Audit, Foundation Meetings, Fund-raising events etc.

5.3	The grant holder shall provide the Foundation with signed copies of all publications arising from the project and funded by The Foundation.

5. 4	The support of The Foundation must be expressly acknowledged in any publication, presentation, or report of the project funded by The Foundation or in any publicity given to such project.

5. 5	The Foundation at all times reserves the right to publish a summary of

the projects funded by The Foundation. Detailed information,

furnished to The Foundation, will be regarded as confidential until the

grant holder in question has published his/her results elsewhere.

6.	General terms

6.1	Staff:

No grant holder or personnel working on, in relation to, or in connection with the project for which The Foundation has granted an award shall represent themselves or consider themselves for any purposes whatsoever to be an employee of The Foundation.

6.2 Transfer to another Hospital/Institution:

The grant holder shall not transfer the award to another Hospital/Institution

6.3 Termination:

The Foundation reserves the right to terminate the award of a grant upon 30 days written notice to the grant holder. The award of a grant will terminate in the event of the grant holder breaching any of the Regulations contained herein. The grant holder will furnish all necessary reports of the project completed or in progress through to the date of termination.

6.4 Disputes:

The Foundation and the grant holder shall negotiate in good faith with a view to resolving any dispute arising from an award made by The Foundation, and if necessary involve an agreed third party for that purpose.

6.5 Amendment of Regulations:

The Foundation reserves the right to amend these Regulations from time to time and will inform the grant holders thereof.

7.	Captions

Paragraph headings or captions are for ease of reference only and shall not affect the construction or interpretation of these regulations.