Role Description:

Chair, NISCHR Public Delivery Board

Role: / Member of the public to Chair the NISCHR Public Delivery Board, overseeing and providing direction for public involvement and engagement in Wales
Duration: / This appointment will be for an initial3 year term. The Chair will be expected to work approximately 50days per annum.
Working Relationships: / The public and other stakeholders including; third sector organisations, researchers andNISCHR senior staff
Payment: / Payment for time and expenses will be available in keeping with National Guidelines.
Deadline for applying: / 5:00pm, Thursday9th April 2015
  1. Summary of Role

The National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR), Welsh Government is looking for an enthusiastic and committed individual to Chair a new Public Delivery Board that will oversee public involvement and engagement in health and social care research in Wales. This is an exciting opportunity to provide leadership and direction for an ambitious and progressive programme of work, which will place Wales at the forefront of public involvement and engagement in research.

  1. Background

The Welsh Government recognises the importance and contribution that the public can make to improving health and wellbeing. The prudent health[1] principles ensure that public value is at the heart of the Welsh healthcare system. Underlying these principles is a commitment to support the establishment of a more equal relationship between patients and professionals. These relationships are based on the principles of co-production; citizens, communities and professionals pooling their expertise together, enabling the public to contribute as equal partners.

Within this context, NISCHR has identified, as a strategic priority, the need to facilitate and enable wider public involvement, engagement and participation in research. NISCHRis the Welsh Government Division that leads on strategy, policy, commissioning, funding, and governance of health and social care research and development in Wales. Its primary goal is to stimulate health and social care research to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Wales. In order to achieve this itfunds a large, multi-faceted and nationally distributed organisation comprising several distinct elements of infrastructure and funding schemes.

Embedded through all this activity is a commitment to involving and engaging the public with health and social care research. Meaningful involvement of the public inhealth and social care research has the potential to improve its quality, relevance and impact, leading to research that is more relevant to people’s needs and concerns, and improved health outcomes for the people of Wales.

To ensure the public are able to help prioritise, influence and shape health and social care research, it is our ambition to create an environment where the population of Wales is pro-actively engaged with research. At the heart of this ambitionis a new flagship initiative,theWales Research Cooperative.The Wales Research Cooperativeis intended to increase the number of people involved, engaged and willing to take part in health and social care research, and help create a unique partnership between the public and researchers, where everyone can be active and equal contributors to the research agenda.This will establishWales as a centre of excellence for active and meaningful public involvement in research.The Wales Research Cooperative will also create a valuable platform for the conduct of health and social care research, improving Wales as a destination for research.

In order to oversee strategic direction and coordination of our ambitions, we are establishing a Public Delivery Board. It is likely that the functions of the PublicDelivery Board will be to:

  • Advise on strategic direction of public involvement in research and research engagement activities in Wales;
  • Consider and provide feedback on current and planned research involvement and engagement activity across the NISCHR research infrastructure;
  • Provide strategic oversight of the Wales Research Cooperative initiative, taking account of advice and recommendations from the Scientific Steering Group;
  • Advise on appropriate access to, and use of, information collected as part of the Wales Research Cooperative initiative, including decision-making on research proposals and data access requests based on recommendations from the Scientific Steering Group

The Public Advisory Board will be made up of a majority public membership alongside representatives from third sector organisations, the Wales Research Cooperative Scientific lead and NISCHR senior staff. Accordingly, we areseeking to recruit a member of the public to Chair this Public Delivery Board. This appointment will be for an initial 3 year term.

  1. Main responsibilities of the role:

The Chair of the NISCHR Public Delivery Board will have responsibility for:

  • Championing the interests of the public in health and social care research in Wales
  • Provide strategic oversight of the Wales Research Cooperative
  • Oversee and provide direction of involvement and engagement activity across the NISCHR infrastructure
  • Chairing Public Delivery Board meetings (4 times a year) and other events where appropriate
  • Attending and presenting at events on behalf of NISCHR
  • Membership of other Boards where relevant, including the NISCHR Delivery Board
  • Working closely with NISCHR senior staff
  • Fully contribute to the activities required for decision-making on Wales Research Cooperative research proposals and data access requests.

More information about the skills and abilities required for this role are in Annex 1.

  1. Timetable:
  • The deadline for receiving applications is 5pm onThursday9thApril 2015
  • Applicants selected for interview will be informed by 15th April 2015
  • Interviews will be held in Cardiff on the 24thApril 2015
  • The successful candidate will be informed on the 27th April 2015
  • It is desirable the successful applicant is available to attend the NISCHR launch event on 14th May 2015
  • If able to attend this NISCHR launch event, it will be desirable to attend a briefing with NISCHR staff (either in person or via teleconference) ahead of the NISCHR launch event.
  1. Training and Mentorship:

The following support will be provided:

  • The NISCHR team will be contactable by email before the application deadline
  • The NISCHR team will answer any queriesduring the application process
  • Anyone considering applying for the post will be eligible for joining the Involving People Network and training with the NISCHR Support Centre
  1. Attendance fees and expenses:

Payment for time will be available. Travel and other reasonable expenses will also be reimbursed. These will be in line with National Guidelines. Further information is provided below

  1. Application:

If you wish to apply, please complete the application form. The form can be downloaded from the NISCHR website:

Please return the completed application form by email to: or by post to:

The National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR)

Welsh Government
4th Floor, Cathays Park
Cardiff CF10 3NQ

The deadline for receiving completed application forms (by email or post) is: 9th April 2015

If you have any queries about applying to become the Chair, advice can be sought from
  1. Selection process

Theselection process will be undertaken by a panel consisting of:

The NISCHRDirector

The NISCHRHead of Research Engagement, Informatics and Systems

The NISCHRLead for Public Involvement and Engagement

An external, independent Research Involvement Specialist

Those successful at the initial sift of applications will be invited to an interview.

  1. Additional Information
  • More details of NISCHR are available on the NISCHR website:
  • The Chair will be eligible to receive payment for time and associated expenses. Travel and other reasonable expenses will also be reimbursed. These will be in line with National Guidelines. For further information please refer to
  • We apply the NIHR INVOLVE ‘When using the term ‘public’ we include patients, potential patients, carers and people who use health and social care services as well as people from organisations that representpeople who use services.Whilst all of us are actual, former or indeed potential users of health and social care services, there is an important distinction to be made between the perspectives of the public and the perspectives of people who have a professional role in health and social care services’.
  • The following is ashort summary of the Wales Research Cooperative:

The Wales Research Cooperative is a new initiative led by NISCHR that is designed to raise awareness of, and increase participation in, health and social care research. The initiative aims to offer an open invitation to people in Wales (over age of 16 initially) to be partners in the creation of new knowledge that can underpin improvements and advancements in health, care and wellbeing.
Crucially, the aim of Wales Research Cooperative is to put the public at the heart of its design and operation. The public’s contribution to research will not just be limited to being a research participant. Public involvement in the creation of research questions and in study design can significantly improve the quality of health and social care research, and is vital to generate and maintain the public’s interest and reflect their priorities and concerns. The initiative has been developed with the intention for the general public to be active and equal contributors to the research agenda, not only as participants but as priority-setters and deliverers, and make Wales the most research-active nation in the UK.
The two main components of the initiative are:
  • A public/population health research programme - to collect and investigate the widest possible range of social, environmental and biological determinants of health and well-being – that is centred around a suite of dialogue and engagement mechanisms to ensure the public have an equal and active role in shaping the priorities and issues to be explored; and
  • A ‘matchmaking’ service to connect those individuals (members of the public) interested in taking part in research with other research projects that they may be eligible to join.
Both components of the initiative will be delivered via a single innovative web-based platform (with other methods available for those without web access) and underpinned by a large-scale promotion campaign to highlight the vital role of research, its benefits, and to encourage individuals in Wales to take part.The ambition is to recruit at least 260,000 individuals in Wales over a 5 year period

Annex 1:

Person Specification

If you apply to become the Chair of the NISCHR Public Delivery Board your application will be assessed against the essential and desirable criteria listed below.

Criterion / Essential / Desirable
Location / Home base in Wales / 
Qualifications / None required
Experience and Knowledge / Good understanding of the importance and need for health and social care research / 
Knowledge and/orcommitmentto public involvement and public engagement in health and social care research / 
Good understanding and/or experience of health and social care research as well as the relevant organisational structures in Wales / 
Prior experience as an effective member of a multidisciplinary committee / 
Experience of overseeing the development of strategies and implementation of operational plans within national or international organisations / 
Skills and abilities / Excellent interpersonal, communication and leadership skills, including chairing and facilitation skills. / 
Ability to reflect a broader range of patient, service user, carer and public perspectives / 
Good communication and team-working skills, including the ability to listen and take part in constructive debate, to present views succinctly and to respect views expressed by others. / 
Ability to correspond by email and produce documents using a computer / 
Ability to meet deadlines / 
Travel / be available to attend briefings and meetings with NISCHR and other relevant stakeholders. / 

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