Practical matters

Timely:

Materials for meetings and activities should be provided in a timely manner to allow for preparation.

What this looks like will depend on the activity/task for example:

• Papers for main meetings should be shared 1-2 weeks in advance of the meeting.
• For working groups we will agree with group members the timeframe for providing papers and materials.
• For interviewing we aim to share applications at least 48 hours in advance of the interviews, with a minimum of documents being shared the night before interviews.

When time is limited people should be advised that documents might only be available at the last minute. We acknowledge that not everyone will be able to do things at short notice, and this might affect capacity to be involved.

Accessible:

Materials and meetings should be as accessible as possible.

As far as possible we will meet individual access requirements for example:

• Dietary needs
• Carers’ needs (both to have a carer’s support to attend and providing support for alternative carers)
• Accommodation required to attend meetings.
• Transport to and from events.
• Accessible venues including considering physical access, hearing adaptions, venue comfort etc.
• Offering quiet space or camera off options.
• Accessible documents (e.g. paper copies, font size, use software with ‘listen to’ options etc) and (extra) time for reading.

People should be asked what they need and an explanation given if we cannot do what is needed. If we can’t do something we should always explore alternatives.

Clarity, conflicts and politics:

We should always ask about and recognise potential conflicts of interest, for example:

• When interviewing – listen to the Public Contributors concerns if they feel they have a conflict of interest and act on it.

Conflicts of interest might include:

• Being directly involved in the work that is being discussed (for example being a public contributor or public co-applicant on a funding application/project being discussed).
• Having a personal relationship with someone directly involved in what is being discussed (e.g. a close family member/friend is involved with a project or is being interviewed).
• Being involved in another organisation that is in the same area of work (e.g. being involved with another NIHR ARC or NIHR BRC or working with/being paid by industry in a relevant sector).
• The potential to benefit financially from decisions made (e.g. if involved in an element of a proposal being discussed that means you will be paid if they are successful).
• When activities might be triggering/upsetting.
• When you know you might not have capacity to complete a task.

Conflicts do not necessarily mean you can’t be involved but it is important to share them so any potential impact can be discussed.

There are occasions when a Public Contributor might be ‘excluded’ from the decision-making process or not be made aware of something, for example:

• A decision might be made outside of a meeting – if this happens please let the public contributor know this has happened and, if possible, explain why.
• Be clear why someone does/does not need to know something – is the knowledge integral to the task at hand or is it peripheral to the task.
• People can usually tell if there is something they are not being told – it is better to be upfront and explain either what it is or that you are unable to explain what it is.

Be clear about ‘Purpose, Process and Payoff’ (courtesy of Jo Flowers):

• Purpose: What we want to achieve
• Process: How we will do it
• Payoff: What’s in it for you/me