Research User Group newsletter 2019 RUG newsletter FINAL version 30.10.19 | Page 7

7 NATIONAL STANDARDS
NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
Last year, the National Standards for Public
Involvement were launched by the NIHR. Keele
University was chosen as one of 10 test bed sites,
to put the standards into practice in the form of
the INSPIRE project - Implementing New
Standards for Public Involvement in a Research
Environment, led by Dr. Steven Blackburn and
Carol Rhodes. Here are the results.
Standard 1.  INCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES
You said:  Is it possible for RUG members to be
more involved in the early design stages of
research across the institution?
We did: Worked with the RUG Steering Group to
develop a RDS Rug Advisor role. This would
include attending the monthly RDS Advisory 
Clinic alongside the RDS Advisor and PPIE
Coordinator to advise researchers on PPIE in
their project at the planning stage.
You said: We should have more diversity in our
Research User Group and be making positive
steps to be more accessible to underrepresented
groups in the community.
We did: We agreed that this was an ongoing
problem affecting PPIE groups nationally. We
addressed this at a strategic level first by
updating our Diversity and Inclusion policy to
align it. Also, we are working withour students
to engage with different ethnic communities to
raise awareness of PPIE and encourage future
involvement in research.
Being one of the ten test bed centres
gives us a means to influence more
staff to really think about the quality
of their PPIE within their projects
- RUG Steering Group member
Standard 2.  WORKING TOGETHER
You said: RUG members needed more support
when sitting on Steering Meetings
We did: We set up 3 workshops for members
already sitting on steering committees to work
with a Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) project
manager and coordinator to produce a guide
on the requirements and responsibilities of
this role and the support available. This has
now fed into a national CTU Guide. The
workshops also produced a wish list from
members of changes that would help them in
their role. Many of these have now been
addressed through the standards work,
particularly the creation of a RUG Buddy Role
where experienced RUG members buddy up
with new members to help support them. (See
standard 3)