The Government appointed an expert panel in 2007 which has evaluated the regions' applications for funding from Kvalitetsfonden. The expert panel recommended in 2008 and 2010 that the Government should give priority to a total of 16 construction projects through preliminary approval of funding. Based on these recommendations, the Government allocated a total of DKK 41.4 billion (2009 prices) to hospital construction projects in the form of preliminary approvals. In May 2013, 12 of the 16 hospital projects had received final approval from the Government.
The expert panel evaluates specific hospital projects and makes recommendations to the Government as to which projects should receive funding from Kvalitetsfonden. The expert panel has evaluated the regions' hospital plans as well as the individual construction projects.
The regions' hospital plans have been evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Pooling functions and specialty areas into fewer units
- Following the recommendations of the Danish Health and Medicines Authority in the area of acute health-care
- Pre-hospital care
- Integration with other regions
The individual construction projects have been evaluated based on the following criteria:
- The role of the project within the new hospital structure, both regionally and within the country as a whole
- Possible alternatives
- Need projection, capacity utilisation, space requirements and budget
- Improvements to productivity and operations
Time line for investment in new hospital construction