Evidence review facility to support national policy development and evaluation

Background The decisions of professionals and policymakers should be informed by rigorous, transparent and up-to-date research because their actions can do harm as well as good. Systematic reviews of research are required, because individual studies can be atypical and subject to bias and chance. Robust, timely and relevant evidence syntheses, produced through dialogue with policymakers and in consultation with local users, can inform the development and implementation of national policy. Aims We propose to continue to provide the bespoke reviews service we currently provide for the DHSC. The service will: facilitate the use of research evidence through rigorous reviews translate review findings for use in policy contexts continue to develop the theoretical, methodological and organisational foundations for evidence synthesis for policy and practice. Research plan A collaboration between three leading organisations in evidence synthesis (including systematic reviews, scoping reviews and evidence mapping) is proposed: The EPPI-Centre (UCL), the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (University of York), Faculty of Public Health & Policy (LSHTM). Led by the EPPI-Centre, the Facility will: Maintain an efficient and responsive review facility that delivers timely, rigorous, relevant and appropriate reviews to policy customers Develop and maintain an inter/transdisciplinary team which utilises and develops appropriate methodologies Engage with stakeholders and other users in order to ensure our reviews reflect a range of perspectives and are cognisant of the context of their intended application. Research team The collaboration is exceptionally strong in terms of its experience in: conducting reviews; developing methods; and engaging with policymakers and other stakeholders and ensuring review findings are useful to decision-makers. The team has worked across health and social care, public health, policy analysis, evaluation, and public involvement and is involved in a range of national and international networks spanning each domain. The PIs will be responsible for the programme of work as a whole, including liaison with the Department of Health and Social Care and policy teams. A management team of named co-investigators will meet regularly to monitor progress. Experienced researchers will lead reviews and user engagement activities, with specialist input from members of other organisations, when required. Information technology support and publications, marketing and communications will be managed through the EPPI-Centre. Finances will be managed by UCL. A programme advisory group and ad hoc advisory groups (to include all relevant stakeholders) for individual reviews will guide the work. Potential impact Research is only one piece of the evidence jigsaw that inform decisions, however we expect that national policy will be informed and impacted by the results of our work. Our key audience will be the policy customers , with whom we engage directly. Successful dissemination of outputs requires focusing the research in terms of setting, audience, and timeliness. Our work in patient and public involvement and setting up ad hoc advisory groups will all be valuable means of communicating research findings. In addition, all three organisations are well known in the Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations and other international networks, offering opportunities for impact in terms of review findings, and methodological development.