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Your HRA public involvement newsletter
Issue 11, August 2023
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 A breakout group discussion at the HRA's business planning meeting in January 2023
Welcome
Hello everyone and welcome to your public involvement newsletter.
We have created a text only version of the newsletter that should be easy to print. For support with this, or if you need the newsletter in a different format, email the public involvement team on public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk or call on 0207 104 8161.
In this month's newsletter
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In this section you can find out about the different ways of working with us.
 Group discussion at the HRA's strategy launch in June 2022
In this month's newsletter, we don't have an invitation to work with us on a specific project, but we thought we'd let you know about work that's planned for later this year:
- reviewing who we involve and how
- improving our payments policy and process
The dates for these projects are to be confirmed. Once decided, we'll share the information in this section of our newsletter and include a link to find out more and apply.
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In this section, we aim to respond to one of the questions we're asked the most – how has our work improved things for other people?
We recently selected nine people to form a new Community Committee. The group is a new part of the HRA's decision-making structures and will advise the HRA board. Two members from our former Community Insight Group will also join to help set up the committee.
Selecting committee members is something we could only do with the help of members of the public, who assisted us throughout the process. Anne-Laure Donskoy, a public contributor who supported the committee, and Becky Purvis, Director of Policy and Partnerships at the HRA, are reflecting on how they worked together, and we'll share their thoughts in the near future.
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In this section, we share news about some of HRA’s work that we think you may be interested in. You might also enjoy exploring the news and updates section of the HRA website.
 Networking at the launch of the HRA's strategy, June 2022
We want to let you know that the HRA is a member of the Benefits Advice Service for Involvement. This confidential, specialist service is run by Bedford Citizen's Advice Service. If you're involved in the HRA's work and have questions about how this could impact benefits, get in touch with the public involvement team on public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk
We've published our annual report and accounts which give an overview of our performance and finances over the past 12 months.
We're grateful to the members of the public that reviewed a draft of the report. Their feedback helped to make the report's format and language clearer and simpler.
The HRA is an arms length body of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This means that every year, our annual report is 'laid' before Parliament. ‘Laying’ the report simply means that it is read by Parliament and goes into the formal records.
If you'd like to know more about the HRA's governance, head to our governance webpage.
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In this section, we share news of activities organised by other groups or organisations. If you would like to include a news item relating to public involvement in social care or research, please email the public involvement team on public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk.
 Image of the Co-Production Collective discussing ideas. Photo credit: Co-Production Collective
Since 2017, Co-Production Collective have been generating and sharing learning about co-production as a community and have put together an ever evolving resource library which incudes:
The library also includes guidance and a report from a project we recently launched about how research ethics works in relation to co-production, public involvement and engagement.
Co-Production Collective is a diverse community of people from a variety of backgrounds who come together to learn, connect, and champion co-production for lasting change. They do this through providing co-production training, consultancy and advice, as well as co-producing themselves, and are supported by University College London.
Sign up to their newsletter if you'd like to be kept up to date on their work. If you’d like to find out more or get involved, email Co-Production Collective at: coproduction@ucl.ac.uk
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In this section of the newsletter, we introduce you to our colleagues and the people we work with.
Neelam joined the HRA as a Non-Executive Director (NED) in April 2021.
NEDs work with the HRA for around two to three days a month and are appointed to the Boards of organisations to bring independence, impartiality, a range of experiences, specialist knowledge and personal qualities. They're appointed by the Cabinet Office via a formal and open application process.
What motivated you to be a HRA Board member?
Most of my career has been in the pharmaceutical industry. I worked with the HRA as a ‘customer’ seeking their guidance on the ethics review process and how to ensure that patients’ needs and interests were central to how we planned and carried out trials.
Having a streamlined process for clinical trials approvals was very important to me. It enabled my organisation to make sure that we could have trials take place in the UK and be sure that they would be carried out with quality and speed. The HRA played an important role in that. I’ve also worked with the National Institute for Health and Care Research and other bodies that help to accelerate research for the benefit of patients. So, when the opportunity came to join the HRA as a Board member, I was keen to play an active part in making sure the UK is at the forefront of clinical trials.
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What would you like us to know about your work with the HRA?
Being a NED is like being a critical friend to the HRA leadership. The NEDs bring an external perspective to the Board so that the HRA strategy is tuned in to challenges and opportunities in the sector. We ensure the organisation makes decisions wisely for the benefit of citizens nationally. Doing that means attending Board meetings, being prepared, and actively engaged in discussions at meetings and with individuals.
What are the interesting challenges in your work?
Post COVID-19, public interest in research has increased. It’s an exciting time for the UK clinical research environment as the government is investing in its growth. This is by making sure we have the right infrastructure and improving access to research amongst other things. Having research that people can trust is really important so that we increase the diversity of people involved in clinical trials, enabling better treatments. The HRA is an important player in this, and it is an exciting time to help deliver this growth.
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If anything in this email is unclear or you have questions, please email the public involvement team on public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk or phone the public involvement team on 0207 104 8161. |
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