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Public involvement should be central to your research project and should be planned at the earliest opportunity.
For Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) applications you should involve the public prior to submitting your application.
You must provide a summary of what you have done, how and when you have done it, the outcomes and how it has influenced your project design.
There is separate information about public involvement that Research Ethics Committees (RECs) are looking for to help them with the review of your application by the REC.
We strongly encourage you to consider public involvement that will meet both CAG and REC expectations. This may be asking the same group a range of questions that will cover CAG and REC expectations, or ask different groups about different elements.
Specific public involvement requirements for CAG applications
CAG expects to see evidence of public involvement that specifically tests the public acceptability of using confidential patient information without consent for the purpose of your application.
What this means in practice is providing a public group with a plain language summary of your project that includes the purpose of the project, how confidential patient information is used without consent and the safeguards that will be in place.
You should seek views on these specific topics.
Find out more
When involving the public around topics specific to your CAG application, you should ensure that you involve members of the public who are representative of the people whose confidential patient information will be used without consent.
There are a number of ways you can involve the public. If you need help to decide how to involve the public please read the guidance on the HRA’s website.
If you are still unsure about how to plan and involve the public in a way that meets CAG expectations after reading this guidance, you can contact us at cag@hra.nhs.uk
Reminder - applicant attendance at CAG meetings
As of 18 January 2024, applicants seeking Section 251 support for the use of confidential patient data without consent will be expected to attend the CAG meeting at which their application is being discussed.
You can read more about this in the HRA Now issued in December 2023.
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