Health and Care Research Wales Conference 2020
Health and Care Research Wales Conference 2020: Making a difference – the impact of health and care research.
On 7 October 2020 we hosted our first ever digital conference centred around the theme 'Making a difference: the impact of health and care research' - a huge thank you to everyone that got involved.
If you didn't manage to catch the event live, or would like to watch anything again, we've recorded all the plenary sessions and workshops which are now available for you to view.
Plenaries
- Research culture and capacity in the NHS
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Session information
How much progress have we made in really embedding a research culture in the NHS in Wales, and giving organisations the capacity and capability to both engage in research and use research evidence in their decision making? Does research really matter to senior leaders – policymakers, clinicians, and health board and trust board members?
In this session Simon Denegri OBE, executive director of the Academy of Medical Sciences will reflect on learning from the Academy’s landmark report last year on NHS research capacity and culture, and Usha Boolaky, assistant director of research for the Health Foundation will speak from a larger research funders perspective on their experience of working with NHS organisations on developing and implementing their research agenda. A key question will be – what should we be doing differently in the future? There will be plenty of opportunity to raise questions and have a constructive debate about the issues.
Speakers:
Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales
Professor Kieran Walshe, Director, Health and Care Research Wales
Simon Denegri OBE, Executive Director, The Academy of Medical Sciences
Usha Boolaky, Assistant Director for Research, The Health Foundation
- Panel discussion: The research response to the COVID-19 pandemic
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Session information
In the last few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has put health and care research in the spotlight like never before – on radio and TV, in the papers, in the wilds of social media, and at the heart of some pretty tough policy choices for government. Many commentators seem to now be self-taught or self-appointed epidemiologists, modellers, and experts on everything from viral transmission to clinical trials and vaccines. There has been a huge explosion of research activity related to COVID-19, with a big investment in the UK and internationally from government and other funders. In this panel discussion with a range of leading academics and researchers, we will explore what we have learned about how to do and use research from this pandemic – and what lessons we might want to take forward into the post-pandemic future, about how to organise, fund, undertake, disseminate and use health and care research in ways that have real and sustained impact and value.
Speakers:
Astrid Burrell, Public and Patient representative on Trident Trial Management Group
Dr Angharad Davies, Clinical Associate Professor, Honorary Consultant Microbiologist, Swansea University
Lisa Trigg, Assistant Director of Research, Data and Intelligence at Social Care Wales
Professor Christopher Butler, Professor of Primary Care Clinical Director, University of Oxford Primary Care and Vaccines Clinical Trials Unit
- Working with policymakers to get research and evidence used
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Speaker presentation - Professor Paul Cairney
Speaker presentation - Professor Steve Martin
Session information
It is generally recognised – and has been for a long time – that the research community spends most of its time focused on research production, and much less on working out how to use research evidence to change policy and practice, let alone actually doing it. Some would ask how much we should really expect researchers to get engaged in the hurly burly of health and care systems to get research used productively to produce improvements. In this session, two academics with huge experience of working with policymakers and practitioners and across the research/practice community divide will share their experiences and ideas. Steve Martin, a leading academic and researcher on local government at Cardiff University, directs the Wales Centre for Public Policy and works closely with politicians and their advisors in Welsh Government. Paul Cairney, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Stirling has studied how evidence is used in the policy process, the complex, iterative and subjective nature of policymaking, and what researchers can contribute.
Speakers:
Professor Paul Cairney, Professor of Politics and Public Policy, University of Stirling
Professor Steve Martin, Director, Wales Centre for Public Policy
Richard Kyle, Deputy Head of the Research and Evaluation Division, Public Health Wales
Workshops
- Group concept mapping: An interactive consensus method to understand impact in health and social care research
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Contact wsspr@southwales.ac.uk if you have any questions about this workshop
Background
Group Concept Mapping (GCM) is a mixed-methods approach which allows researchers to generate consensus with stakeholders and participants in both workshop and online formats. GCM involves three study phases; brainstorming, sorting and rating.
The GCM group at University of South Wales and PRIME Centre Wales have used GCM in studies about social prescribing, family resilience, wellbeing, compassionate care and complex care.
Aim
This workshop aims to introduce delegates to GCM by taking them through the process of conducting a GCM study from both the researcher and participant perspective, and will demonstrate the utility of this method in a variety of contexts.
The workshop
Delegates will first be introduced to the method, before engaging in three 10-minute interactive study phases based on an example study “Using consensus methods to develop a Social Prescribing Learning Needs Framework for practitioners in Wales” (Wallace et al., 2020). The researchers will explain how findings are analysed and can be interpreted and used by researchers, practitioners, commissioners and policy makers. Delegates will discuss potential applications of GCM in their own research areas.
The workshop will be led by Professor Carolyn Wallace and Professor David Pontin, and supported by trained GCM facilitators from the USW GCM group.
Impact
GCM is a versatile method which can be used in a range of health and social care research settings to explore challenges, impact, solutions and develop practical frameworks.
Speakers:
Megan Elliot, Senior research assistant, University of South Wales
Professor Carolyn Wallace, Professor of community health and care service
Professor David Pontin, Aneurin Bevan chair of community health, University of South Wales
- Lessons learned from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic from an NHS R&D perspective
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When the first news of the measures in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic broke in mid-March 2020 the senior management team at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board came together to form a plan of action. This was a new disease with little known about its short and long-term impact on patients and staff. This included:
Office organisation with remote working as the norm. Suspending non-COVID-19 trials over 48-72 hours. Working across 7/7 to cover the actions required quickly. Set up of Urgent Public Health (UPH) COVID-19 trials as Newport was badly affected with many patients admitted.Moving forward we now need to keep the new ways of working as non-COVID-19 trials restart, are closing completely and new trials open in areas where patients need them. How COVID-19 research can be delivered alongside non-COVID-19 trials to ensure that patient needs are met is a question that we will explore at this workshop.
We have learned lots about taking such a focused approach, including:
How valuable concentrating our delivery staff from a wide variety of clinical trial topic areas into one: COVID-19. Within 48 hours research nurses used to supporting mental health trials were working on Intensive Therapy Units (ITU) supporting those trials. Our staff were completely committed to working in new ways and embraced a move into another clinical setting, learning new skills and taking a different type of responsibility. How rapidly Health Research Authority (HRA) and permissions moved to enable COVID-19 trials to be set up in a few days. Running the first COVID-19 vaccine trial in Wales on top of high recruitment into 15 UPH and non-UPH COVID-19 trials. This has been a challenging and hugely rewarding experience.Speakers:
Anna Roynon Reed, Research delivery team lead, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
Professor Sue Bale OBE, R&D director, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
- The future direction of health services research in Wales. How can we best make a difference to health and social care?
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Health Services Research (HSR) is critical to the delivery of health and social care services that are efficient, effective and centred on service users’ needs. However, delivering impactful and innovative HSR is a complex task, reliant upon timely collaboration between health and social care practitioners, academics, policy makers and service users.
The aim of this workshop is to explore the need for, and feasibility of, creating a HSR network in Wales which addresses the shared and diverse requirements of health and social care researchers, practitioners, policy makers and service users.
The benefits of such a network could include the bringing together of ideas, guidance and support to help deliver high quality HSR, and to better understand, explore and pursue partnership opportunities across sectors.
In attending the workshop participants will have contributed and informed ongoing discussions about the future of a HSR network in Wales, and will be invited to further contribute to future discussions.
Speaker:
Professor Aled Jones, Professor of patient safety and healthcare quality, Cardiff University
- The future of domestic violence and abuse research in Wales: Setting an agenda for public health
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Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a global public health issue that can be experienced by anyone regardless of socioeconomic status, cultural or religious group (WHO, 2019) and is associated with detrimental physical and psychological health effects (Afifi et al., 2009; Boyle et al., 2006; Devries et al., 2013; Oram et al., 2017). DVA is highly prevalent, with an estimated 2.4 million adults aged 16-74 experiencing DVA across England and Wales in 2019 (ONS, 2019). The Home Office estimates the cost of domestic violence in the UK was approximately £66 billion in 2019. This excludes the cost associated with emotional and financial abuse and the impact on children.
DVA is defined as ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: psychological, physical, sexual, financial and/or emotional.' Legal definitions of DVA mean that only those over aged 16 can be prosecuted for DVA, leading to the misconception that DVA is only experienced in adult relationships. However, emerging evidence indicates DVA can also be experienced by children and young people (e.g. Young et al, 2019).
Health and Care Research Wales funds the DECIPHer research centre, which focuses on developing, evaluating and implementing interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people. A new interdisciplinary research programme within DECIPHer called ‘Healthy Relationships’, has a particular emphasis on DVA. The centre is already conducting research into this area, but stakeholder engagement is needed to further progress its future research priorities.
Within the workshop, we plan to present the research currently being undertaken to address domestic violence in three different settings; secondary schools, third sector organisations and healthcare, informing delegates of the current evidence. The workshop will reflect on this evidence and engage the delegates in interactive activities and discussions, with the aim to prioritise and agree on a future research agenda in Wales.
Speakers:
Bethan Pell, Research associate, Cardiff University
Dr Kelly Buckley, Research associate, Cardiff University
- Using linked data to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales
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The COVID19 pandemic is a major public health emergency. Understanding this new virus, its transmission and impact of sections of the population has been a priority. Linking data from many sources has been essential to understanding the spread of the infection in the community and informing counter measures.
Health Data Research UK provides the Scientific Advisory Group on Epidemics (SAGE) weekly updates on COVID19 related data access across the UK. The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) system leads the UK with more active projects than elsewhere (66/131).
Responding to the COVID19 crisis the HDRUK Wales team at Swansea University was seconded to work to CMO Wales on using data linkage to understand the development of the pandemic, advise on policy developments and evaluate interventions. A One Wales group was established with input from Welsh Government, NHS Wales and academics across Welsh universities. Two subsequent application to the MRC were funded: Controlling COVID19 through enhanced population surveillance and intervention (Con-COV): a platform approach, and What TRIage model is safest and most effective for the Management of 999 callers with suspected COVID19? A linked outcome study (TRIM).
Public Health Wales NHS Trust are involved in Con-COV and also link many different datasets as part of their response.
The workshop will detail the datasets and methodological approaches being used in these studies and the potential for further research.
Speakers:
Ashley Akbari, Senior research manager and data scientist, Swansea University
Professor Ronan Lyons, Co-Director, Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank (SAIL)
Presentations
All presentations can be found on the Conference 2020 presentations playlist on YouTube
Awards
- Public Involvement Achievement Award 2020
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Winner:
Entry from Leah McLaughlin, Gareth Roberts and David Fellowes
Shortlisted entries:
Entry from Monica Busse, Cheney Drew, Phillippa Morgan-Jones and Barry Mackintosh
Entry from Professor Louise Condon, Jolana Turejova, Leanne Morgan, Glenn miles and Deborah Fenlonand
Entry from Dr Julie Latchem-Hastings, Professor Monica Busse and Barbara Stensland
- Best virtual exhibition stand 2020
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Winner:
Health and Care Economics Cymru
- Best oral presentation 2020
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Winner:
National Video Consultation Service- Embedding and scaling up innovation
Oral presentation by Alka Ahuja