The University of Galway is leading a new research project meant to ensure the continuation of regular healthcare during future crises like a pandemic.
The RAPIDE project (Regular and Unplanned Care Adaptive Dashboard for Cross-border Emergencies) is being enabled by a €6 million grant through Horizon Europe.
The project involves a consortium of 13 Irish and international partners from the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Slovenia, Malta and Estonia.
One of the aims of the research project is to set new standards for fostering resilience and preparedness for future health emergencies.
This will include looking a new ways digital technologies can improve care in the home and outside of hospitals and clinics.
It will measure the impact of delayed or unmet care during a health emergency such as a pandemic.
The project is being led by Prof. Máire Connolly, Established Professor of Global and Environmental Public Health, and Prof. Jim Duggan, Professor of Computer Science at the School of Computer Science at the University of Galway.
Professor Connolly said, “Our research and what we learn from the RAPIDE project will contribute to national preparedness in Ireland and it will also have an impact within the EU and at a global level.”
The research will look back on the COVID-19 pandemic to measure the impact of delayed or unmet care for conditions such as strokes, heart attacks, diabetes and cancer treatment.
It will also assess the delivery of regular care across hospital, primary care and home-based settings.
Professor Connolly added, “During the COVID-19 pandemic regular healthcare across Europe was disrupted with long-term consequences for patients.”
“The RAPIDE project offers a valuable opportunity to learn from this, to build in healthcare optimisation and forecasting and to create more flexible and adaptable ways to deliver healthcare.”
RAPIDE builds on the work of the PANDEM-2 project, which was about building systems which would strengthen Europe’s pandemic preparedness as a whole.
It is hoped that the findings of RAPIDE will also be helpful during winter surges in hospital admissions when numerous viruses are peaking.
Professor Duggan’s team will develop a cutting-edge decision support system to forecast surges in demand for patient care during health emergencies.
“Our novel technical solution will use state-of-the-art simulation and mathematical methods to model epidemiological and patient pathways in order to evaluate flexible healthcare solutions,” Prof. Duggan said.
“The goal is to help mitigate the impact of increased patient demand during pandemic emergencies.”
“The work will be informed by stakeholder requirements and insights across different healthcare scenarios, including hospital, primary, and community care settings.”
