The Nuffield Trust was commissioned by the National Centre for Rural Health and Care to explore the impact of rurality and sparsity on the costs of delivering health care.

This report evidences the additional costs in rural areas including: staff recruitment, retention and costs; higher travel costs; increased fixed costs associated with providing services within safe staffing guidelines; and difficulties in realising economies of scale when delivering services in sparsely population rural areas.

In partnership with Rural Community Network Northern Ireland, we worked with 6 community groups over a 12-month period to help them measure the impact of their activities.

Funded by the Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland under its Special Initiatives Programme, this pilot project increased the skills and capacity of staff and volunteers at the 6 organisations; enabled them to better understand and measure the impact of their work; and enhanced their sustainability and financial viability.

This report summarises the key findings from the pilot.