Research User Group newsletter 2019 RUG newsletter FINAL version 30.10.19 | Page 9

9 NATIONAL STANDARDS
Standard 4. COMMUNICATIONS
You said: As part of this standard we needed to produce a Communications Plan.
We did:  We created a Communications plan with the help of the RUG Steering Group members, in
which we identified five aims with details of how we will approach each of these.
You said: We needed to improve communication between researchers and RUG members sitting
on their projects.
We did:  We created a ‘Good Practice Tips for
Researchers – Communication sheet. This was a one
side of an A4 split into good practice tips:
before the meeting
during the meeting    
after the meeting
Which we distributed in the pigeon holes of all researchers within our Centre.
The standards have given the RUG Steering Group a voice into how we can
celebrate what we have achieved but also into the areas that we can still improve on
such as clear role descriptions, regular feedback and better communication with
our RUG members
- Keele PPIE team
Standard 5. IMPACT
You said:  You would like regular feedback on the projects you were involved in so that you knew
how your input had impacted on the project.
We said:  In order to do this across all of the projects we needed to introduce a system that was
simple for researchers to use and easy for the team to incorporate into their day to day processes.
We did:  We created a simple to use google form to collect information from researchers on how
the RUG members input had impacted on their study alongside a letter template that they could
input the same information into, to feedback to RUG members. This information also
automatically fed into a spreadsheet for the PPIE team, so that they could keep an overview on the
process and report on the impact of PPIE across the Centre.
You said:  In order to have an impact on research you would like to be involved right from the very
beginning in setting priorities for research.
We did:   We looked at the work of the James Lind Priority Setting groups on:    
Patient Safety in Primary Care
Early Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis
Physiotherapy
Depression
Following a scientific ranking approach through facilitated workshops of consultants, patients
and researchers in that field, these groups produced their top ten priorities for
research. We then worked with our RUG Steering Group to produce their top three
questions to consider for research here at the centre.