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Dear Colleagues,

Our interim May Newsletter and the latest November Newsletter are intended to keep you abreast of Health ClusterNET events, to present network partner news, and future developments .

Health ClusterNET is an innovative project that sees the health sector as a resource that has potential across Europe to contribute to achieving the goals of the Lisbon Agenda. It can do this if used more effectively in developing economic competitiveness and social cohesion at regional level. As an Interreg IIIC funded operation, during 33 months, we have developed a clearer understanding of how in partner regions health sector investment and assets can contribute to regional economic and social development priorities. The focuses for this are four key connections – local procurement, affordable capital investment, employment and innovation. We enable partners to share knowledge, experience and ideas about how these areas can be used successfully to address the challenge. And, after 26 months of work we have already started to develop a practical future for the Network. Moving it on from its Interreg IIIC funded phase to becoming an open network: an effective and independent knowledge resource for members, partners and clients.

I hope we provide some insight into our work through this newsletter. As important, we hope that your organization might become interested in possible future collaborative actions.

Prof Jonathan Watson, Executive Director of Health ClusterNET

Download the May NEWSLETTER from here.

Download the November NEWSLETTER from here.

New policy agenda published

Health ClusterNET builds inter-regional cooperation to exchange knowledge and experience, identify learning to enhance regional policy and instruments of regional development and possibly affect relevant institutional structures and systems. In close cooperation with experienced European organizations it also tries to influence relevant policies/programmes at EU level and foster a sustainable development approach based on insights developed by the Network.

Its focus is on the practicalities of how health sector investment can contribute to regional development through four corporate health system activities: procurement, capital investment, employment, and innovation. In each of these areas we are systematically collecting knowledge and case study material from our partners and considering policy implications through network workshops, regional activities and network policy forums. The formal material is documented in a series of Network Reports and the latter in a series of Policy Agendas which provide a practical response to the ‘health equals wealth’ challenge first set out at the European Health Policy Forum in October 2003. The Agendas have been shaped by the practical experiences, evidence and insights generated by regions from across the EU and beyond who are partners in Health ClusterNET.

The first policy agenda published was the Bilbao Agenda which deals with the procurement theme and puts forward a range of procurement policy actions for localities, regions, and the European Commission.
The second published Agenda, the Graz Agenda deals with the capital investment theme and puts forward a range of capital investment policy actions for localities, regions, and the European Commission.
The third Agenda, the Pecs Agenda deals with the employmnent theme and puts forward a range of inclusive employment policy actions for localities, regions, and the European Commission.
The newly published Agenda, the Liverpool Agenda deals with the health innovation landscape theme, and puts forward a range of innovation policy actions for localities, regions, and the European Commission

For more information see the Network Reports of the procurement , capital investment, employment, and innovation knowledge themes and our events generating these documents at the Knowledge themes section. Also find more information in the Policy recommendations section.

European Regional Conference in Brussels

The aim of this European Regional Conference was to engage network partners and other stakeholders at regional, national and EC level to debate both our findings and recommendations. Also we tried to stimulate EU-wide debate and action on how the economic and social development potential of health sector investment across European regions is realised to support delivery of the Lisbon Agenda. Besides we explored further development of this agenda within the context of opportunities within the Interregional Cooperation Programme and Regions for Economic Change (2007-2013) and creating sustainable and efficient health care systems under FP7.

Budapest Conference

The 1^st European Conference of Health ClusterNET was held in Budapest, 28 September 2006. The conference presented practical knowledge, lessons learned and policy recommendations from our procurement and capital investment themes and look forward to the employment and innovation themes. Health ClusterNET organized the conference with support from the Health Services Management Training Centre, Semmelweis University.

For further information go to Download resources section.

You can also contact our Network Coordinator, Margit Ohr (ohr@policy.hu, +36/70 315 5466).

External evaluation of our project

The ONE NorthEast Regional Development Agency commissioned an external evaluation of our project in two stages. The first, at its mid point, aimed to add value, strengthen and shape the project in the second part of its life cycle, identifying lessons learnt, issues to be addressed and improvements to make. The final evaluation, towards the end of the project assessed the extent to which the network had been able to achieve the results and impacts it had set itself, to demonstrate the added value of inter-regional collaboration, and comment on the potential for future maintenance of the network. The focus was to be on the way the project operated rather than assessment of all the activities themselves, as the Lead Partner felt that the Management and Coordination Office (M&CO) were monitoring these enough to ensure that targets were being met. They also thought that the impacts would not be felt until the end of the project and beyond. The outcome was to take account of partners’ views on project activity, and on the day to day and financial management of the network. The mid-term and final evaluation have been carried out by Zennor Consulting.