On 26th<\/sup> September 2019 the Research Design and Conduct Service (RDCS) South East Wales hosted an all-day grant writing Day at Birchwood House, Cardiff. Sixteen delegates working across four health boards (Aneurin Bevan University HB, Cardiff and Vale University HB, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University HB, Powys Teaching HB) and Public Health Wales attended the event. The retreat provided them with a whole day of protected time to work on grant applications, either on their own or together with collaborators. Expert advice was available from RDCS consultants throughout the day on a variety of topics such as study design, qualitative methods, statistical analysis, study management, and health economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The delegates worked on nine distinct project ideas\nacross a diverse range of specialties and research areas including mental\nhealth, primary care, microbiology, sexual health, epidemiology, social care\nand public health. Most of them attended with the aim to submit their proposals\nto Health and Care Research Wales\u2019 (HCRW) Research for Patient and Public\nBenefit (RfPPB) scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the morning RDCS Director Sue Channon explained some of the recent updates made to the RfPPB call, such as the change from a single-stage to a two-stage application process, revised eligibility criteria and its much earlier submission deadline. She also presented feedback on RfPPB applications from previous years and observations from various HCRW and NIHR funding committee meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To maximise the expertise available to delegates and\nthe range of disciplines covered, the Cardiff-based team of RDCS consultants\n(Sue Channon, Claire Nollett, Philip Pallmann, Kim Smallman) was complemented\nby health economist Berni Sewell (Swansea University) and Centre for Trials\nResearch (CTR) Director Kerry Hood. Six additional CTR researchers (Catrin Cox,\nMackenzie Fong, Kate Ingarfield-Herbert, Yvonne Moriarty, Lisette Nixon,\nVictoria Shepherd) also attended the event to support or shadow the RDCS\nconsultants or to work with delegates on their specific bids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While some participants chose to hide away in the cosy atmosphere of the Birchwood Library for hours and completely focus on their writing, others seized the opportunity to pick the consultants\u2019 brains throughout the day. Lively discussions between researchers and consultants continued well beyond the official end of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s writing retreat proved so popular that we\nhad to create a waiting list and unfortunately not everyone could get a place\nat the event. With those attending it achieved a record-high average\nsatisfaction rate of 9.86\/10, based on 14 returned feedback forms. Some aspects\nthat delegates highlighted as particularly helpful included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n9 project areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Maximising expertise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Positive feedback from delegates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n