CONTRACT C52/2013/2014 - SPECIFICATION FOR THE WALES CASE STUDY PROJECT – THE EXPERIENCE OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PROFESSIONALS IN KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND THE INNOVATION PROCESS

1. Background

The National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR) is the Welsh Government body that develops, in consultation with partners, policy on research and development to reflect the health and social care priorities of the Welsh Government. NISCHR delivers its strategy and policies through commissioning services, running research schemes and initiatives, and through strategic investment and partnership working with other funding bodies, the NHS, academia, industry and other key partners.

The aims of Welsh Government policies in science, health and social care, and economic

renewalare consistent in highlighting the contribution that innovation makes to health

improvement, and the benefits that it confers on the environment and the broader welfare

of the population. Knowledge transfer, the process whereby research is put into practice, is

central to the achievement of these aims.

A comprehensive range of strategies are currently employed by Welsh Government to

promote innovation and knowledge transfer. More needs to be done, if health and social

care in Wales is to rank among the best in the world – the ambition set out in Together for

Health and Sustainable Social Services. Social care organisations and the organisations of

NHS Wales are key to delivering this agenda, whether working singly or in partnership with

the academic, private or third sectors. It is now a requirement of NHS policy that all Health

Boards have a named lead to take forward strategies in this area of policy.

Innovation can involve medical technologies (including IT), pharmaceutical products or

service development and planning. Welsh Government policy seeks to increase the

quantity of innovation in Wales and to speed “translation”, which is the process by which

innovation and other discoveries are taken, where appropriate, through the research and

evaluation pipeline to impact on clinical practice and social care.

A number of national and regional organisations have a key role in delivering the Welsh

Government’s vision centring on knowledge transfer and innovation. Thousand Lives Plus,

for example, is an important knowledge transfer initiative which targets harm reduction,

waste and variation in health service provision and seeks to improve the quality of patient

care in Wales.

In line with the agreed strategy of the UK countries in research and development, NISCHR

has directed a significant proportion of its funding at improving innovation and research

translation. In relation to knowledge transfer its remit is to fund implementation research by

which the best processes are identified for putting effective interventions into routine

clinical practice and social care. A number of grant schemes are operational and a robust

infrastructure has been put in place to underpin research planning and activities.

More specifically in relation to the NHS, NISCHR established the Academic Health

Science Collaboration (AHSC) in 2010 to:

  • Enhance the research infrastructure of the NHS,
  • Establish closer links between the NHS and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and industry, and,
  • Integrate healthcare, education and research for improved clinical care.

NISCHR AHSC operates at national and regional levels to meet its objectives. The three regions: North, South West and South East are also developing their own unique approaches and solutions to addressing innovation and knowledge transfer and are building on the collaborations already in place between NHS organisations and Higher Education Institutions.

NISCHR supports the social care sector through the NISCHR All-Wales Academic Social

Care Research Collaboration (ASCC) - a collaboration between Cardiff, Bangor, and

Swansea Universities.The ASCC is trialling three alternative approaches to capacity

building in social care research in Wales on a regional basis. Of particular relevance to

this specification is the ‘Making Research Count’ initiative being developed in adult services in the Swansea region. This project aims to work with social care employers and statutoryservices to support system-wide development of evidence based practice.

The former Minister for Health and Social Services established the Health Wellbeing Best

Practice and Innovation Board (hereon called the “Board”) in 2012. The aim of the Board

is to accelerate the pace of innovation and the adoption of evidence based practice

relevant to health and wellbeing in Wales. The Board is served by a number of work-

streams focusing on:

  • Incentives and investment
  • Access to evidence at operational levels
  • Leadership, culture and employee engagement
  • Health,social care and business
  • Integrated health and social care system
  • Engagement of Community Health Councils and other pressure groups and organisations

In addition to the above the Board will adopt the NISCHR AHSC’s Knowledge Transfer Task and Finish Group as one of its work-streams.

NISCHR AHSC’s strategic objective is to contribute to the development and

implementation of a workplan which will address knowledge transfer in the NHS, in

collaboration with other agencies. The scope of this strategic objective will be widened for

the purposes of the NISCHR AHSC Knowledge Transfer Task and Finish Group to include

knowledge transfer in the social care sector.

2. Aim

The present Minister for Health and Social Services has agreed funding for the

commissioning of case studies to inform the work of the Board. The case studies are

intended to enhance the information received from stakeholders in the “call for evidence”

which closed on February 2013.

NISCHR has been tasked with commissioning the case studies and to administer the

budget to support the project, hereon called the “ Wales Case Study Project”. A budget of

£70k has been identified to take the work forward and NISCHR will convene the

NISCHR AHSC Knowledge Transfer Task and Finish Group which will work

closely with the successful contractor and draw on the findings of the case study research

to inform the Group’s recommendations.

An important part of the Wales Case Study Project will be to ensure engagement with the

wider community in order to raise awareness of innovation and knowledge transfer, and to

stimulate action for progress and change. To this end, the NISCHR AHSC Knowledge

Transfer Task and Finish Group is to hold a workshop for health and social care

professionals, to inform the detail of the Group’s workplan and the finer detail of the Wales

Case Study Project within the parameters of project objectives stated in this specification.

3. Objectives

The objectives of the Wales Case Study Project are to:

  • identify the range of interrelated factors that aid or inhibit innovation and knowledge transfer
  • detail the experiences of innovators in bringing their ideas closer to patients and carer groups
  • highlight successes in a range of medical technologies, pharmaceutical products and services related innovation, in terms of process and outcomes
  • draw on common factors which determine success and which will form the basis of recommendations for policy and policy implementation.

4. Requirement

The Client wishes to commission the Wales Case Study Project which will essentially be a

qualitative research project intended to fill an important gap in the knowledge needed to

shape policy and practice in knowledge transfer and innovation. The Wales Case Study

Project will engage with, and provide material for, engagement with the stakeholder

community, and through its recommendations assist the Board in progressing its aims.

An interactive approach also known as action research is to be used by the contractor to deliver the Wales Case Study Project. This will involve data being fed back to stakeholder groups in order to promote a shared understanding of good practice and to establish consensus on the best way forward to meet aims related to innovation and knowledge transfer and ultimately health improvement and wellbeing.

The contractor will be expected to:

  • engage fully with the stakeholder community in health and social care.
  • examine good practice at the level of the individual and that of organisations to determine what could work well in Wales.
  • communicate clearly the conceptual framework which underpins the study. The study will need to encompass discovery and innovation in pharmaceutical products, medical technologies and service design and delivery.
  • investigate a maximum of 15 cases, the cases being the individual innovators and the context of their experiences. The cases must cover health and social care and pharmaceutical, medical technologies and service innovations. If possible, the sampling frame should incorporate the different stages reached in the innovation process and achieve a degree of geographical spread of the innovators selected across Wales. A pragmatic approach to sampling will be acceptable to the Client.
  • report to the meetings of the AHSC Knowledge Transfer Task and Finish Group
  • produce a short, user friendly report, in two parts, with recommendations for the Board. This should include vignettes which draw on the more detailedcase study data.

It is anticipated that methodologies will include a synthesis of the observations and

recommendations of the latest relevant research and key reports in the field of innovation

and knowledge transfer. The development or identification of a suitable conceptual

framework which will help bring clarity to the subject of innovation and knowledge transfer

and underpin the shape of the study.

Case study data collection using:

  • face to face interviews of professionals with experiences to share, positive or negative, of the innovation and knowledge transfer processes
  • observation of meetings and events pertaining to each case study
  • documentation research involving minutes of meetings, policies and strategies and other forms of communication

The case studies should enhance understandings of the complex interplay between

factors related to the individual innovator, project partners, the employing organisation,

and regional and national strategies and interventions. Together with the

recommendations of other study findings they should enable some generalisable learning

to be drawn out for the basis of recommendations.

An action research approach involving timely feedback of project plans, results and

recommendations to respondents and the wider stakeholder community is required. The

workshop to be organised by the NISCHR AHSC Knowledge Transfer Task and Finish

Group will provide opportunity for early contact between the contractor and the stakeholder

community to explore practical issues related to study objectives. The strategy for

feedback should use a range of communication methods and include the use of the

“vignettes” which will be summaries of the case study data. The Client is particularly

interested in any new ideas that the contractor can bring to enhance the interaction with

the community at various stages in the Project.

In terms of outcomes and a final product, the Wales Case Study Project will:

  • provide an in depth understanding of the factors which aid or inhibit successful innovation and knowledge transfer,
  • identify barriers to knowledge transfer and innovation in health and social care and identify strategies for overcoming them,
  • point to the pathways which are currently operational and any improvements which canbe made,
  • highlight issues concerning coordination, including those involving the organisations and agencies involved in this field of work, engage with and contribute to the identification or development of the tools needed for successfully engaging with the stakeholder community to progress innovation and knowledge transfer in Wales.

The Wales Case Study Project will provide a view on the current state of innovation and knowledge transfer in Wales and provide recommendations for further improvement.

The contractor will also compile a research report consisting of two parts. The first part should be a short, focused, report which draws on the case study data and the wider learning from the Project to inform the recommendations in the report. The case studies should be summarised as vignettes and used as illustrative examples in this part of the report. A thematic approach to the discussion of the findings is required and clear pointers for action at policy and operational levels.

The second part will be an annex and contain the full case study data, synthesised, and presented as individual cases. Five bound copies and an electronic disk of the final version of the project report will be required by the Client.

The report will be widely circulated in Wales. In addition to the Board, the Health Boards, NHS Trusts, Higher Education Institutions, Local Authorities, ABPI, MediWales, and third sector health and social care organisations will be sent the report.

A second workshop will be organised by NISCHR AHSC for the stakeholder

community to discuss the implications of the findings of the Wales Case Study Project and

other relevant enquiries at the reporting stage. The contractor will be expected to

contribute to the content and delivery of this event and to finalise the conclusions and

recommendations in light of its outcomes.

The report will need to have utility in training and education and influence potential operational changes. The final workshop of the NISCHR AHSC will use the report to make practical suggestions on how the case studies can be used to stimulate discussions/bring about changes in knowledge transfer and the innovation process in health and social care sectors. To reiterate, this is a practical project – aimed to produce recommendations for leaders in health and social care to take forward.

In order to administer the Wales Case Study – the following timescales will need to be followed.

July to October

  • Award contract – contractor to meet and liaise with NISCHR to discuss scope and key objectives
  • AHSC Knowledge Transfer T&F groupto hold workshop with health and social care professionals to inform detail of the T&F Group’s work plan and finer detail of the Wales Case Study Project

November to January

  • Contractor to undertake commissioned work
  • Interim Case Studiespresented to NISCHR
  • Contract monitoring meeting

February to March

  • Contractor research report
  • Final draft of Case Studies to NISCHR
  • Contract monitoring meeting

April

  • Second AHSC Workshop for stakeholder community to discuss implications of the findings of the Wales Case Study Project – Contractor to contribute to the content and delivery of the event and finalise conclusions in light of the workshop outcomes
  • The final Case Study report presented to NISCHR
  • Contract monitoring meeting

May 2014

  • The Wales Case Study report presented to the Health, Wellbeing, Best Practice and Innovation Board

5. Contract Award Evaluation Criteria

The contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous quote in terms of value for money on the basis of the following criteria, which are listed in order of importance including the weighting applicable to each criterion.

Evaluation Criteria / Weighting
1. Details on how you will deliver the qualitative research project – the Wales Case Study Project and what processes will be used to achieve this / 30
2. Evidence of key personnel who have the expertise to undertake the Wales Case Study Project and who have a clear understanding of the projects key objectives – CV’s to be attached where appropriate / 20
3.Details on how you will deliver the project within the specified timescales outlined in the specification requirement / 30
4.Cost / 20

6. Timetable of Events

6.1 The Client has produced a timetable of events that will ensure the evaluation is completed on schedule. Any variations to these milestones must be agreed, in advance, with the Client and confirmed in writing by the Contract Manager.

6.2 Required completion dates:

7. Duration of Contract

Start date: September 2013

Length of Contract: 8 months

End Date: April 2014

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