What is the South West London Investment Fund?
The South West London Investment fund was established in September 2022, and this year is in support of the delivery of the South West London Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) Strategic Priorities, as described in our South West London Integrated Care Partnership strategy. The funding aims to give partners the opportunity to suggest innovative projects that could have a big impact on health and wellbeing across South West London. This year we have two parts to the Investment Fund:
ICP Priorities Fund (formerly Innovation Fund)
The new ICP Priorities Fundfor 2023-25 will be targeted to support delivery of the Integrated Care Partnership’s strategic plan and priorities. The fund is divided into two categories with the following distribution of monies:
- ICP Workforce priority has an 80% allocation of funding.
- Remaining ICP priorities and cross cutting themes focussed (excluding health inequalities) has an allocation of 20% of the funding.
The ICP Priorities Fund has a budget of £5 million across the two financial years until March 2025.
The Health Inequalities Fund (known as HI Investment Fund)
The Health Inequalities Fund has been awarded by NHS England to tackle Health Inequalities (Core20+5) across South West London. The Health Inequalities fund for 2023-25 will be for existing and new projects with a distribution of funding of 75% for existing schemes and 25% for new schemes. Place based partnerships within South West London will receive an allocation of the funding using a needs-based approach. Successful schemes will be authorised to run until the end of March 2025. £4.3 million is available to South West London for 2023/24 with a similar value anticipated for 2024/25.
What is the approach for the ICP Priorities Fund 2023-25?
- To improve alignment of the approaches for both funding streams it was agreed at the ICP Board in July to the adopt the process outlined in Figure 1 below.
- We will be opening for new applications on Monday 2 October and closing for applications on Friday 10 November (six weeks).
- Details of the processes for projects relating to the ICP strategic priorities can be found in figure 1 below.
How do we find out more about the ICP Priorities Fund?
We will be holding Investment Fund information events online during the first two weeks of October 2023 to provide more detail on the application process for both funds.
The first event we will also provided advice and guidance on how to approach applications including finance information. Watch the launch event and download the slide deck.
There is a wealth of information, video instructions and contact details available on the South West London Investment Fund page of our website.
How do you apply for the ICP Priorities Fund?
This year there is an online portal for applications to both funds. Each fund has a clearly signposted online application form that can be saved and returned to before submission, the portal contains information on how to apply and also how to access technical support. A financial template and mobilisation plan template have also been established to reduce follow-up queries.
In addition to the portal, we will hold a series of online advice sessions during the application period to answer questions and provide support and guidance.
The application process opens on Monday 2 October 2023 and close Friday, 10 November 2023 and 23:59.
Find out more about applying for the ICP Priorities Fund.
Who can apply for the ICP Priorities Fund?
Anyone can apply for the fund as long as their project supports the delivery of a specific action or actions within our South West London Integrated Care Partnership Strategy.
Our ICP strategy is comprised of six strategic priorities and three cross cutting schemes:
ICP Strategic Priorities
- Reducing Health Inequalities
- Preventing ill-health, promoting self-care and supporting people to manage long term conditions
- Supporting the health and care needs of children and young people
- Positive focus on mental well-being
- Community-based support for older and frail people
- Tackling our system-wide workforce challenges
Cross-cutting themes
- Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion
- Championing the green agenda
- Elevating the patient, carer, and community voice
Each strategic priority has areas of focus with subsequent actions, the delivery of which will support the health and wellbeing of our population.
We as an integrated care partnership have collected around these actions to deliver collectively across South West London, and this ICP Priorities Fund is aimed to drive the delivery of these actions and priorities together, across our system.
Please note that applications for the reducing health inequalities should be made through the health inequalities fund and not the ICP priorities fund, as we have specific funding and slightly different criteria (dictated nationally) for health inequalities.
Can you do more than one bid for the ICP Priorities Fund?
You can be involved in more than one bid for this fund and can submit multiple bids. Each application form is for one scheme/project only.
Can our projects be South West London wide or Place only?
Our ICP strategic priorities and actions are system-wide activities that we as an integrated care partnership have agreed to deliver together. With this in mind, we are keen to support schemes that operate across the system, i.e., across all six boroughs. We are also happy to support previous single-borough pilots that are able to scale up across multiple boroughs.
This does not mean that we will not support schemes that operate over a part of the system (e.g., two boroughs), but we would prefer to fund schemes that will deliver across the system to provide maximum benefits to our patients and residents.
Is there a particular need that you want projects to focus on?
All projects must align to a specific action or actions within our South West London Integrated Care Partnership Strategy. These actions are grouped into our areas of focus and cross-cutting themes.
What should the project bid cover?
The bid must cover all elements of the application form, most importantly, describing how the scheme will deliver an action or actions within the South West London Integrated Care Partnership strategy.
The bid must also describe the impact of the scheme, including benefits and measures, and who will be involved and who the scheme will directly impact. The finance and mobilisation template will also cover how much funding is requested and how it will be spent, in addition to how you intend to initiate implementation and deliver the scheme.
All proposals must include a plan for measuring the project’s outcomes (impact on patients/population) and outputs (project deliverables). Health outcomes might not be apparent over the duration of the project period and applicants may instead include plans to measure other proxy health indicators.
Where can I get help with filling in the application on the online portal?
There will be support in completing the application form on the portal. We will also hold a series of online advice sessions during the application period to answer questions and provide support and guidance.
Who do I contact for more information?
Please refer to our website [link] where you can find a host of resources and further information. You can also contact us by email at [email protected]
When will I hear an outcome from my application?
Between Monday 13 November and Monday 20 November 2023, your application will be shared with the relevant ICP Priorities leads who will review and shortlist the applications. These shortlisted applications will then be sent to an ICP review panel at the end of November or first week of December 2023. Successful applicants will be notified shortly after.
How will conflicts of interest be managed in the shortlisting process?
All reviewers and South West London Panel members will be asked to declare any conflicts of interest. Reviewers and Panel members need to be independent of the process and will not be eligible to review or decide upon applications if they have submitted a bid.
Do you require Equality and Quality Impact Assessments to be completed as part of the process?
You will need to demonstrate the impact your project/intervention has on your target populations and provide a brief description of the evidence base or what is known about the intervention or issues you wish to address. An EQIA may be required if your application is successful. This will be dependent on the scheme and who the scheme is likely to impact.
Will you accept paper or offline submissions or online portal applications only?
Applications are via the online portal. Please contact the South West London Investment Fund team if you are unable to submit via the online portal due to accessibility reasons.
How do we ensure that new bids are within the financial envelope?
On the portal for new projects, there is a suggested minimum and maximum bid value. This amount varies by strategic priority (as detailed in question 1). However, if you have a scheme that falls significantly outside of these values, please contact the South West London Investment Fund team to discuss.
When the reviewers have scored the applications (as part of the shortlisting process), the Health Innovation Network will collate the scores of the reviewers and average then across the applicants. These will then be ranked according to that score within the strategic priority, with the best applications having the highest score.
The highest scoring top bids for each strategic priority within the funding envelope would go forward as the shortlist to the South West London Panel. The lower scoring bids would not go forward.
A guideline of the financial allocation for bids is shown in the table below:
Will there be reporting arrangements for successful applicants on progress of projects and evaluation?
Yes, all successful applicants will be provided with reporting arrangements for monitoring performance and deadlines for evaluations. Every application is expected to detail how they will evaluate the impact of their project and the outcomes they hope to achieve.
It is expected that there will be quarterly updates to the ICP Board. To facilitate this, projects will need to provide monthly updates on their progress to the relevant ICP strategic priority lead(s). All projects will be expected to do an evaluation. Whether this will be annual or six-monthly, will depend on the project.
Is the fund recurrent and will there be a new allocation for new financial year starting April 2024?
The funding is not recurrent, and the envelope is for this financial year (2023/24) and next financial year (2024/25). Applications must state what funding will be spent in this financial year and next year as part of the application process on the portal.
Why is delivery up to March 2025 for successful applicants?
Feedback from last year’s process highlighted that many projects required longer than in-year to deliver their interventions and to evaluate their impact. Extending delivery period to March 2025 will mean that applicants can receive their funding and have 12-15 months to complete their projects. Please note that costs must be spent in relevant financial year, i.e., if you have bid for £50k in 2023/24 and £100k in 2024/25, you must spend £50k in 2023/24 and cannot roll it over to 2024/25.