Call for Expressions of Interest
It is likely the programme will eventually contract with one team. The contract will be awarded for a maximum of three years and maximum value of £2m for the whole contract, with an annual review point to ensure contractual compliance.
Please note, this guidance sets out maximum expectations; the final focus and tally of evaluations delivered over the lifetime of the contract will be determined by the size of each individual evaluation agreed during the contract. Examples of what might be expected can be found in the current Birmingham, RAND and Cambridge Evaluation (BRACE) and Rapid Service Evaluation Team (RSET) evaluation of innovations teams’ work.
This is a call for expressions of interest and the HSDR programme welcomes a variety of team models to apply. Demonstration as to how potential applicant teams fulfil the items listed in the call specification is the primary purpose of this stage. Applicants invited to complete a stage two application will have an opportunity to set out their views as to how many and what type of evaluations could be delivered within the stated resource envelope. The programme will accept applications from a consortium of research providers.
Applicants are advised to follow the directions given in the guidance notes specific to this call as they complete the application form.
The standard DHSC research contract will apply.
The contractors will be required to work with:
- The HSDR Programme Director and Deputy Director
- NIHR Coordinating Centre
- Users of the evidence to be generated through this contract
Applicants will need to have experience in this type of work and be able to demonstrate methodological expertise and a track record in delivering mixed method evaluations of service innovations in a co-produced approach, to time and agreed cost. The programme accepts that content expertise may have to be brought in for individual evaluations and this cost will have to be absorbed by the contract.
Speed of evaluation will vary according to need and the nature of the research question. However, the programme requires fast and responsive scoping and engagement with all stakeholders in a formative approach. Flexibility will be needed as workplans will change over time and in-year depending on the urgency of topics being referred to the team. Understanding of how this flexibility would work in the applicant team will need to be demonstrated during the assessment process.
Scope
The HSDR Programme funds research to improve the quality, effectiveness and accessibility of the health and care services, including evaluations of how health and care providers can improve delivery of services. The audience for this research is the public, people who draw on care and support, commissioners, managers and all types of health and social care provider organisations, as well as front line staff.
The team will be expected to scope out the detail of the work in each project, preparing a full evaluation protocol including the questions to be addressed, methods to be used, resources required in terms of full-time equivalents, and outputs to be delivered. In each case full co-production with service users and the full gamut of stakeholders will be needed.
The HSDR programme will require outputs including publications during the lifetime of the contract to reflect the delivery of discrete pieces of work. The exact nature of the final output will be discussed with the team at the appropriate time in the lifetime of the contract.
Final resource requirements and time needed for the individual evaluations will be negotiated with the HSDR programme secretariat, with reference to the Programme Director as appropriate. The timetables to which reports must be delivered will be tight in order to ensure utility of outputs to inform practice change and possible roll out of service change. NIHR peer review and feedback processes will likewise be rapid.
Examples of funded studies in the HSDR portfolio relevant to this call
- A mixed methods evaluation of remote home monitoring models during the COVID-19 pandemic in England (Phase Two evaluation), Naomi Fulop
- SUPPORT-HF 2 (Seamless User-centred Proactive Provision Of Risk-stratified Treatment for Heart Failure) - An internal pilot phase of a planned large-scale randomised trial of an integrated, technology-enabled care delivery model, Kazem Rahimi
Commissioning and monitoring, editorial review and publication will be managed by the HSDR programme secretariat. Processes will be commensurately fast, and outputs will be managed through publication in journals including the NIHR Journal as the contracts progress.
Assessment process and timetable
All submissions will receive feedback and a number (likely maximum of four) will be invited to complete a stage 2 application form online to be considered by the HSDR funding committee. The committee may wish to interview the applicants and, if so, the HSDR secretariat will coordinate attendance of 2-3 members of the applicant teams. It is likely this will be in November. In addition to the criteria set out in the call document, assessment will be looking to see that teams have:
- Understood the nature of rigorous and responsive rapid service evaluation, as an emerging and growing field of academic endeavour
- Understood the need for an appropriate mix of staff and skills, and the nature of flexible and rapid deployment of staff
- Experience of working in a highly applied and engaged manner with evidence users, service providers and people who draw on health and social care services.
The successful applicant will have best demonstrated an understanding of the service requirements and the ability to meet the specified criteria.
Resources
In commissioning a team or group with critical mass of evaluation and technology expertise, we would expect there to be efficiencies in activity. We will be commissioning for expertise in evaluating service innovation, working with networks in health and social care and local authorities. Subject experts may need to be co-opted for individual evaluations. As part of the scoping of individual evaluations, the contractor will have to demonstrate that the need for additional specific expertise has been considered.
Likely minimum staffing requirements for a successful team are:
- A director who will take overall responsibility for the leadership of the team, close and effective liaison with evidence users and the HSDR programme, quality assurance and timely delivery of reports, and who has authority to re-deploy resources
- Dedicated senior staff time: to supervise, take responsibility for and quality assure each output; and be available to discuss key issues with members of the HSDR secretariat
- Staff skilled in technology-enabled research and evaluation and used to employing methods of co-design and co-production of this type of research, as well as working with service innovators including economics and modelling.
- Access to appropriate networks of evidence users in health and social care
- Proven project management expertise: Managing multiple and complex projects and evaluation teams.
Each evaluation will require a detailed overarching project timetable with milestones. As part of scoping an individual evaluation, the contractor will be asked to detail the project management arrangements to ensure quality and timeliness of delivery, and to explain how it fits within the overall evaluation teamwork portfolio.
Contract management and monitoring
The contractor will have a designated research manager at the secretariat and the contract will monitored with agreed minimum reporting points and review points as well as an annual financial reconciliation. This will be a research contract with a fixed end date. The purpose of monitoring is to enable discussion on current and future work under the contract and on any difficulties that may arise in the operation of the contract.