RAPIDE Project: protecting regular care and advancing pandemic preparedness

Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, a great amount of regular healthcare across Europe was adjusted, postponed, or even stopped. The disruptions involved the entire spectrum of care, with delays in treatment for elective surgeries, chronic conditions, cancer care, and mental health. Noy only pandemic care impaired the delivery of regular care, but also patients themselves avoided necessary regular care despite having health problems, being afraid not to become infected with COVID-19 in healthcare setting or being afraid to pose a high burden on healthcare resources that were, in their view, more justified for pandemic patients. Disrupting or interrupting regular care during a pandemic or other health emergency proved to have long-term consequences for patients and healthcare systems. The RAPIDE Horizon EU project has the ambition to systematically study and understand the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic and explore new research avenues to prepare for the next pandemic by working on models for healthcare optimisation and forecasting, experiment with more flexible and adaptable ways to deliver healthcare and make an optimal use of community and at-home care to make acute hospital resources available to deal with crises. The new models can also help to improve healthcare efficiency during ‘peace-time’. RAPIDE stands for Regular and Unplanned Care Adaptive Dashboard for Cross-border Emergencies. The consortium includes academic and healthcare institutions, companies, and organizations from Slovenia, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Malta, and Estonia, as well as the European Forum for Primary Care.