Sciencewise public dialogue project

The HRA aims to streamline and simplify the research approval process. It is important for us to understand what the implications of these proposed changes are for patients and public and to understand the degree to which people feel protected or made at risk by the system for approving health research.

The HRA conducted three separate exercises to understand the views of patients and the public:

1. Commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct public dialogue workshops across four locations in England.
2. Held 7 workshops with patients and carers together with one workshop with Phase 1 participants.
3. Commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct an interview survey of 1,295 members of the general public to try and quantify some of the findings emerging from the workshops.

This work was supported and funded by Sciencewise. Sciencewise is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and aims to improve policy making involving science and technology across Government by increasing the effectiveness with which the public dialogue is used, and encouraging its wider use where appropriate to ensure public views are considered as part of the evidence base. Visit www.sciencewise-erc.org.uk for further details.

A summary of the main findings can be found here.