The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Centre for Dissemination (NCD) function

Descriptions

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is a large, multi-faceted and nationally distributed organisation. Together, NIHR people, facilities and systems represent the most integrated clinical research system in the world, driving research from bench to bedside for the benefit of patients. The NIHR was established in April 2006 to provide the framework through which the Department of Health can position, maintain and manage the research, research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England as a national research facility. The NIHR commissions leading-edge scientific research, while creating the best possible conditions for inward investment by the life-sciences sector, by working in partnership with many sectors including other Government funders, academia, charities and industry. Since its establishment, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research.NIHR programmes are now producing a significant volume of outputs and there is a need to ensure that the NHS capitalises on the new information generated. Information therefore needs to be targeted at, or designed to be interpreted by, decision makers including those who work in, use and manage the NHS. Researchers have been slow to understand the differing information needs of each of these audiences. There is a need therefore, to disseminate results in ways tailored to different stakeholders to enhance their knowledge, speed up the implementation of research outputs, and encourage awareness of the NIHR more generally. The effective dissemination of research is an important factor in facilitating the more rapid uptake of new ideas by the health system, leading to better health and well-being of individuals and populations. Services that promote systematic reviews play an important part in this. The Contractor will undertake the role of the NIHR's Centre for Dissemination and Tenderers are asked to outline their plans to deliver a Centre (NCD) that will:a) maintain an awareness of key national health and social care policies and issues and use appropriate, recognised scientific and other media to keep track of systematic reviews and the outputs generated to identify those of relevance to the NHS and Social Care. An awareness of systematic reviews and how and where these are published is essential.b)disseminate the results of NIHR research in a manner which sets them in the context of existing evidence and of the NHS, thereby enhancing awareness and uptake.c) disseminate research outputs from other funders, especially reviews,' where these are likely to impact on NHS practice.d)acknowledge the target audience for this dissemination which will include patients, the public, clinicians, NHS managers and policy makers in the Department of Health and other relevant bodies such as NHS England, Public Health England, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Care Quality Commission, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. In considering the information needs of patients and the public, take on board the Plain English policy being developed by the NIHR's patient and public involvement lead organisation, INVOLVE, at:http://www.invo.org.uk/resource-centre/plain-english-summaries/we-are-currently-working-on/e)set out an approach to multi-media dissemination in what is a fast changing world-media environment. Bidders are asked to suggest the most effective and cost effective approach to disseminate information to the audiences identified above. Electronic media including social media should be considered along with a limited amount of targeted face to face dissemination via workshops or similar and the production of teaching or other support materials.f)present an approach to dissemination that demonstrates knowledge of other elements of the NIHR and how NIHR fits within the health care system.g)act in an advisory role to the Department of Health by assessing the outputs of research managed by the NIHR's three commissioning centres for their policy, clinical and/or social care relevance, sensitivity and:a)disseminate results in a timely way, to coincide with publication of results or shortly thereafter;b)set results in the context of health need (burden or other importance of the condition), existing research in this area (drawing on, or identifying for commissioning systematic reviews) and expected benefits or pitfalls of the application of the results of research by comparison with typical NHS practice;c)consider cost effectiveness of the intervention highlighting links to guidelines for example from NICE;d)identify issues around implementation where the results would support a change in NHS practice.e)demonstrate an understanding of the policy context of research and an awareness of media interests and issues.f)use existing software to provide the service as we do not expect the provider to develop, or need to develop, new IT systems to provide the required functionality.g)in developing materials seek expert opinion as appropriate. The contractor should be able to demonstrate links with a range of clinical and methodological expertise and should be able to describe in detail how this expertise might be deployed.h)be active in terms of seeking out opportunities to undertake research into methods of dissemination and should seek to publish in this area. However, this activity will not be funded through this contract.i)as part of placing NIHR research in context maintain and disseminate existing databases (as detailed below)although with less abstraction than at present. Databases should appear as lists with appropriate links to source documents,a.PROSPERO: is an international database of prospectively registered systematic reviews in health and social care. Key features from the review protocol are recorded and maintained as a permanent record in PROSPERO. This will provide a comprehensive listing of systematic reviews registered at inception, and enable comparison of reported review findings with what was planned in the protocol. The research community is the primary audience for this database. A reference tool, the key aim of PROSPERO is to reduce unplanned duplication of reviews and promote the most efficient use of resources for research. (See http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/)i.DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects), focuses primarily on systematic reviews that evaluate the effects of health care interventions and the delivery and organisation of health services. The database also includes reviews of the wider determinants of health such as housing, transport, and social care where these impact directly on health, or have the potential to impact on health.ii.NHS EED (NHS Economic Evaluation Database) focuses primarily on the economic evaluation of health care interventions and aims to help decision makers interpret an increasingly complex and technical literature.Studies conducted in, or that are relevant to the UK health care system are considered priorities and fast tracked. This priority process ensures that evidence of most relevance to the NHS is made available as quickly as possibleiii.Health Technology Assessments database includes completed and on-going health technology assessments from around the world. It is a valuable source for identifying grey literature as much of the information it contains is generally only available directly from individual funding agencies. Database content is supplied by the 52 members of the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) and 20 other HTA organisations around the world. Details of other on-going systematic reviews are also registered on the HTA database. The HTA database should also contains brief details of on-going HTA projects. These are updated when projects complete. This enables funders and researchers to identify work already in progress and may help reduce unintended duplication of effort.j)Although NIHR no longer requires routine abstracting, the contractor will be expected to write independent critical abstracts of value to those who manage or provide care in the NHS, Public Health or Social Care. It is envisaged that approximately 350 abstracts a year will be produced and bidders should state how they will identity and prioritise records for abstraction taking full account of key audiences.The transition period will commence from 1st April 2014 and the contract delivery from 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2019, with an option to extend up to a further 12 months to expire on 31st March 2020. Please be advised that TUPE may apply to this contract.