Nursing Tech Fund 2 open

Organisations that want to bid for money from the second round of the Nursing Technology Fund have until 2 December to do it.

NHS England announced today that bidding for the second round is now open, but will close in just a month.

It expects to hand out £20m-£25m in this financial year, and £10m-£15m in 2015-16, with a strong focus on giving nurses access to information at the bedside and out in the community.

A prospectus says applications should be “aligned” with “digital capture of clinical data at the point of care” and with “mobile access to digital care records across the community.”

Other priorities for this round of funding include access to digital images, IT to enable nurses to locate equipment, workforce development, and specific forms of digital assessment.

The Nursing Technology Fund was launched in autumn 2011 by Prime Minister David Cameron. It was taken over by NHS England in April the following year.

The first round of bidding secured 226 applications from 139 trusts, 74 of which were successful in winning £30m for 80 projects.

The focus of the first round was very much on laptops, digital pens, and similar technologies. The second round appears to be focused instead on supporting nurses in access to information and in digitising nursing tasks.

The organisations that can apply to the fund include both trusts and local authorities, charities and voluntary and social enterprises.

NHS England has not only published a prospectus for this round, but more detailed guidance on getting value for money, and obtaining references for projects.