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Your HRA Public Involvement Newsletter
Issue 24, November 2024
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Welcome
Hello everyone and welcome to your public involvement newsletter. To subscribe and to see previous issues of the newsletter, please visit the HRA website.
We have created a text-only version that should be easy to print. You can also view the newsletter as a webpage. Click on the link at the top of this newsletter and zoom in using the ‘Ctrl’ and the ‘+’ symbols.
For support with this, or if you need the newsletter in a different format, you can read our guidance, email the public involvement team at public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk or call on 0207 104 8161.
If there is something you'd like to include, or learn more about, do let us know.
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In this section, we give a short update on some of the involvement activity we have in progress and share new invitations to get involved in our work.
 Public contributors and HRA staff at an event
Last month, six members of the public contributed to different aspects of the HRA’s work. Activities included:
- speaking about diversity and inclusion in research at a development day for members of our Research Ethics Committees
- contributing to Make it Public, our work to improve research transparency so that trusted information from health and social care research studies is publicly available for the benefit of all
- attending a meeting to help plan the development of the HRA's next three year strategy
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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 have recently refreshed the HRA's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) Transparency Wording Template. The HRA recommends that this wording is used by anyone carrying out health and social care research in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
We held workshops to find out exactly what people want to know when it comes to their data, to ensure they can put their trust in researchers to handle their data responsibly. The first workshop included members of the public who have taken part in research, Research Ethics Committee members and members of the research community. The second workshop was at Expert Citizens CIC in Stoke-on-Trent. Expert Citizens is a community interest company that is led by and for people with lived experience of homelessness, mental ill-health, drug and alcohol use, domestic abuse, poverty and contact with the criminal justice system.
We've published a blog reflecting on the importance of public involvement in this work.
Matt Rogerson, Research Regulation Specialist at the HRA:
'The changes we made included removing acronyms and instead including agency names - such as the Information Commissioner’s Office - in full, and giving examples of why data might need to be sent abroad and how it will be protected.'
Sophia Fedorowicz, Research and Evaluations Lead at Expert Citizens:
'We are so pleased to see our feedback has been taken seriously and changes have been made to the transparency statement. I can’t wait to see it go live and show our membership the result of their contributions.'
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In this section, we share news about some of the 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.
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Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, Chair of the HRA, has announced that he will step down from his role early next year.
Terence, an eminent clinical academic, joined us on 1 September 2019. During his time at the HRA he helped steer the organisation through its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and significant change.
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He also played a key role in our tenth anniversary celebrations and supported the development and delivery of our strategy, Making it easy to do research that people can trust.
Terence will take up a new role as Chair of NHS Providers from February 2025.
The process to recruit the new HRA Chair is underway. We’re also currently recruiting three Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) with interviews taking place in December. A comprehensive induction plan will be in place for the new NEDs and new Chair, when appointed, to support a smooth transition for the organisation.
We’d like to thank Terence for all his contributions and wish him all the best for the future.
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In this section, we share news of activities organised by other groups or organisations. To find out more about the activity, please contact the organisers directly.
To include a news item relating to public involvement in health or social care research, please email the public involvement team at public.involvement@hra.nhs.uk
The Department of Health and Social Care has launched Change NHS – a nationwide campaign asking for members of the public, patients, carers and NHS staff to help develop a 10 Year Health Plan.
The aim of the campaign is to gather feedback from people across the country and use your views, experiences and ideas to make real change.
We are encouraging everyone to take part and share your feedback.
Our Chief Executive, Matt Westmore, reflects on the opportunities the campaign presents:
'This is a fantastic opportunity to share your experience of receiving care from the NHS – good or bad – and help shape the next 10 years of the health and social care service.
'This is also an opportunity to ensure that research is prioritised as part of the 10 Year Health Plan. Lord Darzi’s independent review of the NHS made it clear that research has a key role to play in developing a high-quality health service that is sustainable in the future. We will continue to fly the flag for research.'
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In this section, we provide information on the HRA, our people, and the other organisations we work alongside.
Each year, the HRA publishes a business plan which sets out our:
- objectives
- what we are doing to achieve them
- key dates
It describes how we make it easy to do research that people can trust and how, by working with others, we can achieve our vision for high quality health and social care research today, that improves everyone’s health and wellbeing tomorrow.
And importantly, our business plan sets out the funding we receive and how we plan to spend it to deliver on our commitments.
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In response to feedback and enquiries, we have brought together this section with important information for people involved in our work. Let us know if you think we are missing any key information.
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