NIHR Sheffield BRC & CRF 

 Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion Strategy 

 2022 - 2027 

Contents

Abbreviations 

Joint Statement of Commitment 

Section 1: Introduction 

Section 2: Our Approach 

Section 3: BRC Objectives and Action Plan 

Section 4: CRF Action Plan 

Section 5: Statement of Maturity 

Section 6: Governance Structures 

Appendices 

Abbreviations

We have tried to limit the number of acronyms throughout this document but below we have listed the few key ones used throughout.

BRC – Biomedical Research Centre

CRF – Clinical Research Facility

EDI – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

EM – Experimental Medicine

GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation

NIHR – National Institute for Health and Care Research

PPIE – Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

STH – Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

UoS – University of Sheffield

Joint Statement of Commitment

The NIHR Sheffield BRC and CRF are committed to promoting and embedding EDI through all aspects of our work.

Diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact in our research and enhances the experience of our patients, communities, and workforce. By working collaboratively with our partners we will create a thriving inclusive research environment that provides widened access and public confidence in health and care research; an environment that attracts and supports a diverse range of world leading staff, fostering equal opportunity for everyone to achieve their potential.

Through embedding these principles we will foster the development of a culture of Impact, Excellence, Inclusion, Collaboration, and Effectiveness.

Section 1. Introduction

About Us

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and Sheffield Clinical Research Facility (CRF) are part of the NIHR hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STH) in partnership with the University of Sheffield (UoS) that work together delivering clinical research locally.

The NIHR Sheffield BRC develops academic science emerging from the University of Sheffield into clinical research under the themes of Neuroscience, Infection and Immunity, Cardiovascular Disease, and Imaging and Engineering. We will focus on areas where our research and clinical expertise most strongly intersect to address local and national health priorities. Our theme structure (right) demonstrates how EDI is central to everything we do.

The NIHR Sheffield CRF offer purpose built, dedicated research facilities within STH for the conduct of high-quality clinical research. We have the capacity to care for participants on a day and overnight basis. We recruit patients and healthy volunteers into clinical trials across a broad range of health conditions. We are experts in delivering early-phase studies where new treatments are being tested to make sure they are safe and effective. The services we provide can lead to important developments and advancements in health and social care and transform the lives of patients, so it is essential that EDI is at the core of all our work.

Diagram linking the themes of the BRC together, with EDI centrally placed
Diagram of collaborators who work closely with the BRC and CRF

Strategy Development, Partners and Collaborators

Our strategy is based on developing a culture of Impact, Excellence, Inclusion, Collaboration and Effectiveness

In alignment with STH, UoS, and NIHR, this EDI strategy has been designed with regard to, and in compliance with, the Equality Act 2010. Our strategic focus will seek to address the inequalities associated with the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010 and delve further into those found within health and care research, which have been highlighted as a national and global issue.

Our strategy aims to remain aligned to the Equality Delivery System for NHS (ESD2) which measures service user health outcomes, patient experience and access to our services, as well as how representative and supported our leadership and workforce is. Consistent with the UoS “One University” pillar, our strategy embraces a positive “one workforce” environment where all can reach their potential, be actively involved in our successes, and feel secure, supported and respected.

This strategy was developed with input from all key stakeholders in both the BRC and CRF. Our partners and other collaborators, including NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Cooperative and Primary Care Sheffield have also been active contributors, and as such will be instrumental in its successful implementation and delivery.

Section 2. Our Approach

The NIHR Sheffield BRC and CRF EDI programme will better address the following areas:

Diagram showing how a diverse workforce, widening participation and improving impact through collaboration are embedded as approaches in the EDI strategy

Widening and Improving Participation

NIHR Sheffield BRC and CRF are committed to the promotion of an inclusive research environment to facilitate wider participation and involvement from diverse groups.

'Despite our previous endeavours, such as the highly successful CognoSpeakTM project (see appendix 5 for detail) and a newly designed dementia friendly reception area (see appendix 6 for detail), we recognise additional work is required to initiate more inclusive recruitment strategies and identification of research priorities to further represent the patient community we serve.'

We therefore have identified three key areas important to widening participation in our overarching objectives:

Below we have expanded on each of these goals and how we aim to achieve them.

Community engagement and improved public understanding of research

Working directly with our patient community and EDI contributors in an open, honest and consistent manner allows for the development of trust and understanding between researchers and diverse groups. Only by improving engagement and public understanding can we ensure that diverse groups feel comfortable contributing to and participating in research.

The BRC and CRF will:

Recruitment to studies, with a focus on increasing the participation of under-represented groups in EM studies

To deliver this objective, we first need to recognise the current EDI landscape of recruitment to our clinical research studies and the populations within Sheffield as a whole. This knowledge will enable us to better understand barriers to inclusion and identify populations or areas which need targeted strategies to improve engagement and participation.

To begin this, we will work together to:

Other activities that the BRC will undertake:
Another aspect of delivering this objective is the optimisation of the design of clinical trials to ensure they are as low-burden, inclusive and efficient as possible. Some examples are:

Other activities that the CRF will undertake are:

Involvement of patients and the community across all stages of the research pathway.

Embedding involvement from the public and community groups at all stages will help us to improve the relevance, appropriateness, and value of the research we conduct. Focusing on EDI groups and under-served communities will ensure their unique perspectives are considered and trials are conducted in an inclusive and sensitive manner.

The BRC will promote involvement at all stages through:


The CRF will promote involvement at all stages through:


Diverse Workforce and Increased Capacity

The BRC and CRF are proactively working to instil a diverse and inclusive environment where clinical research can thrive and provide equitable benefits to people from all communities. In doing so, we place great value on continual diversification of the workforces including staff, researchers, and trainees. By further improving diversity, the outputs generated have the potential to achieve greater reach and impact to those currently underrepresented. 

Through the implementation of this strategy, we envisage growth in the BRC and CRF EDI maturity. Therefore, it is key to understand the current landscape to enable measurable growth, development and areas potentially requiring more targeted intervention. 

To do this, we will: 

The BRC will: 

The CRF will: 

Implementation of Methods 

In the short-term, significant effort will be taken to gain a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape with respect to equality, diversity and inclusion within our workforce. Once these baseline statistics have been collected and analysed, we will endeavour to implement various strategies to build a more diverse workforce. It is important to note that the BRC and CRF teams will ensure continual optimisation of current methods and innovation of new methods to achieve this. Therefore, the list below is not an exhaustive list of strategic workstreams. 

The BRC and CRF will: 

Improving Impact Through Collaboration

We will strive to deliver an impactful and expanded network of effective research collaborations. By forging strong relationships with our partners (Sheffield Infrastructures, NIHR, Charitable funders, and Industry) we will bring together technologies and research approaches to benefit our local, regional, and national communities, helping to raise research awareness across our health and technology themes.

We will champion EDI principles and develop EDI planning across all research activities, including but not limited to:

Embedding Approaches

To ensure the BRC and CRF delivers an evidence-based strategy for implementation of EDI principles we will adopt an open and reflective approach. This will be iterative and will incorporate regular reviews of progress throughout our governance structure and partner organisations. This approach will enable our infrastructure to measure the progress and impact of our key EDI themes (Widening participation, Research Capacity, and Improving Impact through Collaboration).

This EDI strategy will be published on the BRC and CRF websites along with other key resources and information about the EDI work taking place. This improves transparency with the community and will provide accessible methods for interested individuals to learn more and get in touch.

These key themes will allow the BRC and CRF to harness a vibrant, forward-thinking energy within our activities, and ensure that an inclusive and diverse environment is promoted and embraced.

We retain an acute awareness that the more we collaborate and instil positive EDI approaches the more effective our strategy will be. Key to advancing this will be the relationships across our partnership and raising awareness across our health and technology themes.

Section 3. BRC Objectives and Action Plan

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

Short term (1-2 years)

Widening and improving participation

1.1 Evidence of EDI planning for external grant applications.

1.2 Development of a community outreach engagement programme to promote inclusion of under-served groups and increase representation in clinical research.

1.3 EDI Senior Research Fellow to work with all our themes to develop research that expands research inclusivity/involvement, participation and engagement; proactively advising the co-design/creation of our research priorities and projects.

1.4 Encouragement of wider dissemination of research material outside of traditional scientific journal publications. 

Diverse Workforce & Increased Capacity

1.5 Recruitment of a full time EDI Senior Research Fellow.

1.6 Agreed operating principles with Primary Care Sheffield and sourcing of matched funding, in collaboration with local NIHR and research governance infrastructure to increase research activity, understand barriers to inclusion and reach under-served members of the community.

1.7 Identify and implement EDI champions within BRC Themes.

Improving Impact through Collaboration

1.8 Collaboration with Primary Care Sheffield, local NIHR and research governance infrastructures to increase research activity, understand barriers to inclusion and reach under-served members of the community. 

1.9 Creating a network of working contacts with community groups, disease charities, research, and primary care organisations to facilitate future EDI initiatives.

Embedding Approaches

1.10 To collect accurate, comprehensive, baseline data on staff and participants to enable accurate measurement of impact.

1.11 To develop targeted workstreams in responses to areas requiring intervention identified from the data collected.

1.12 Have published the EDI strategy on the BRC website and have developed an EDI focused page with key information and links for the public and researchers.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

2. To increase NIHR research capacity and further develop the interdisciplinarity of the BRC Training Academy.

Short term (1-2 years)

Diverse Workforce & Increased Capacity

2.1 Having attracted, developed and retained the best researchers from medical and nursing, midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (NMAHPs) backgrounds.

2.2 Initiatives which support greater inclusivity in translational research including implementing EDI champions.

2.3 Support and training for the career trajectories of our researchers to achieve their potential as future research leaders.

2.4 Investment in emerging researchers to build a dynamic and sustainable translational research environment.

2.5 The promotion of multi-disciplinary research to drive innovation.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

3. To further progress the pull through of experimental medicine studies, novel drug evaluation as well as improving the design and delivery of clinical trials for our healthcare patient groups.

Medium term (2-3 years)

Widening and Improving Participation

3.1 Optimise the design of clinical trials to ensure low-burden, inclusivity and efficiency; and deliver clinical trials that enhance the evidence base for therapeutic advances.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

4. To collaborate with partners to develop and broaden the wider EDI landscape.

Medium term (2-3 years)

Widening and Improving Participation

4.1 Develop specific research objectives and related research projects collaboratively with patient and community groups and with BRC theme programmes.

4.2 Work to identify key researchers linked to community groups who can approach the group regarding research, to develop trust and reduce burden.

Diverse Workforce & Improved Capacity

4.3 Training and development of the research potential, incorporating EDI principles, of healthcare workers across the NHS e.g. using our Nurse and AHP research-internship programmes.

Improving Impact through Collaboration

4.4 Routinely report the impact of the Primary Care Sheffield Collaboration in conjunction with the NIHR Sheffield Clinical Research Facility to ensure that long-term success and sustainability is safe guarded.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

5. To have demonstrated success in improving the design and deliver of clinical trials for our healthcare patient groups.

Long Term (3-5 years)

Widening and Improving Participation

5.1 Improvements in the design and delivery of clinical trials and personalised care, with a focus on diverse and currently under-served patient groups.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

6. To have embedded, promoted and measured impact of EDI principles across the BRC research portfolio and our research teams.

Long Term (3-5 years)

Widening and Improving Participation

6.1 Develop evidence for more inclusive and community-oriented methods to ensure research activities are appropriately tailored to reach more diverse, and currently less-engaged, communities.

6.2 The EDI programme having addressed the following areas: (a) Patient and community involvement in informing all stages of the research process. (b) Recruitment to studies, especially increasing the participation of under-represented groups in EM studies. (c) Community engagement and promoting public understanding of research.

Diverse Workforce & Improved Capacity

6.3 To collect accurate, comprehensive, baseline data to enable accurate measurement of impact.

Improving Impact through Collaboration

6.4 Alongside our partners showcase best practice and positive impact examples through online media public engagement and Sheffield led events.

Embedding Approaches

6.5 Having embedded the national standards for involvement in the BRC’s PPIE culture.

6.6 Regular progress monitoring at BRC Executive groups and within Themes.

6.7 Ensure awareness of PRES and other feedback forms in BRC funded studies.

   BRC Objective    

   Timescale for   
  progress   

   Main Linked EDI Strategy 
  Areas   

   How we will monitor and  
  manage success   

7. To add value to the NIHR Academy through delivery of an inclusive, innovative interdisciplinary BRC training academy.

Long Term (3-5 years)

Diverse Workforce & Improved Capacity

Improving Impact through Collaboration

7.1 Promote training opportunities that are inclusive for both clinical and nonclinical personnel, in partnership with the UoS postgraduate team and its departmental EDI Directors and our EDI programme leads.

7.2 In collaboration with our EDI co-leads, further the development of EDI principles across the BTA and within our Healthcare and Technology themes.

Section 4. CRF Action Plan

   Goal    

   Action    

   Timescale for   
  achievement   

1.1 Add a new section to the CRF website to display activity and news related to EDI.

Mid 2025

1.2 Review accessibility of the CRF website with PPIE members.

Mid 2023

1.3 Create a calendar of relevant awareness days and events to promote and engage in.

Early 2024

1.4 Create an evaluation form for EDI events and training, using the findings to put in place improvements and track progress.

Early 2024

   Goal    

   Action    

   Timescale for   
  achievement   

2. Widening and Improving Participation - Patient and community involvement in informing all stages of the research process

2.1 Review and act on participant feedback.


Mid 2023

2.2 Further develop text and graphics to make participant experience results accessible. Display these resources online and within the department.

End 2024

2.3 As part of the NIHR Local Clinical Research Network Yorkshire & Humber pilot project: Develop an accessible, plain English template to describe research outputs.

Mid 2025

   Goal    

   Action    

   Timescale for   
  achievement   

3. Widening and Improving Participation - Recruitment to studies, especially increasing the participation of under-represented groups in Experimental Medicine (EM) studies

3.1 Adapt the CRF feasibility form to collect information on studies that have a focus on underserved groups.


End 2023

3.2 Undertake a review to identify where protected characteristics are already collected at a local level.

End 2023

3.3 Review which protected characteristics it is appropriate and proportionate to collect data for.

Early 2024

3.4 Develop and roll out use of tools for collection of data.

Mid 2024

3.5 Publish results of the data collected on the CRF website, including findings, recommendations, and progress.

Mid 2025

3.6 Analysis of collected data to create a diversity baseline. Compare research participant diversity with diversity data from the wider community to identify target areas for engagement activities.

Mid 2025

3.7 Establish a model for engagement with primary care and the community to help widen our reach for under-represented groups.

Mid 2026

   Goal    

   Action    

   Timescale for   
  achievement   

4. Diverse Workforce & Improved Capacity

4.1 Undertake a review to identify where protected characteristics are already collected locally.

End 2023

4.2 Analysis of collected data to create a workforce diversity baseline. Compare CRF workforce with diversity data from the wider Trust to identify target areas for circulation of job opportunities.

Mid 2025

4.3 Review which protected characteristics it is appropriate and proportionate to collect data for.

Early 2024

4.4 Develop and roll out use of tools for collection of data.

Mid 2024

4.5 Publish results of the data collected on the CRF website, including findings, recommendations, and progress.

Mid 2025

4.6 Establish Equality Champions to support education around EDI at each CRF site.

Mid 2024

4.7 Develop tools to capture staff participation in relevant leadership and management development programmes to establish a baseline.

Early 2024

4.8 Use this baseline to set targets for access to leadership training for staff from diverse backgrounds (e.g the reverse mentorship scheme, and career fairs for internationally educated staff).

Mid 2024

4.9 Gather feedback from staff on their training needs in relation to EDI.

Early 2024

4.10 Use training needs results to create training resources to deliver the required education.

Late 2025

   Goal    

   Action    

   Timescale for   
  achievement   

5. Improve Impact through Collaboration

5.1 Explore existing staff networks around EDI for the Equality Champions to be part of.

Early 2024

5.2 Provide staff opportunities to be part of primary care and community groups to take part in local EDI discussions.

Mid 2024

5.3 Participate in national and local networks related to EDI.

Mid 2024

5.4 Share best practice and incorporate into local EDI activity.

Late 2026

5.5 Gather evidence based on the work of the NIHR-INCLUDE project to:

gain understanding of local barriers to including underserved groups in research

understand what actions we can take to overcome these barriers

begin to develop the tools, training and resources we need to deliver these actions



Late 2024

Late 2025

Late 2026

Section 5. Statement of Maturity

To devise our goals and action plan we have opted to measure our maturity level using the Veza Global maturity model. We feel this will provide a useful tool to measure our progress and reflectively stride forwards in our EDI journey. The diagram below demonstrates where the Sheffield BRC and CRF see our maturity levels currently. We place ourselves at Compliance level (our organisations are meeting legal requirements and has noticed a need to create a company culture) and are working towards Discovery (have identified and are seeking to address a gap in our diversity and inclusion practices). This is because this is our first EDI strategy where we will outline our plans to further understand the current company culture and identify how we can make improvements.

Our partners, UoS and STH, have already outlined their EDI strategies with SMART objectives, demonstrating they are further along the maturity pipeline. Working with these partners will help us to improve and ensure we are increasing our maturity level.

Diagram placing the BRC and CRF between compliance and discovery of the maturity pipeline

Section 6. Governance Structures

BRC Governance Structure Diagram

BRC Governance Structure

The diagram (left) shows the internal collaboration and reporting structure of the NIHR Sheffield BRC. EDI workstreams are outlined in red.

Workstreams from within the EDI programme will be embedded into each theme. EDI activities across the BRC will be a regular agenda item to be discussed with Executive Board on a regular basis. The BRC core team, alongside EDI champions in themes and theme leads will work to monitor progress against this EDI strategy. Implementation of this strategy is everyone’s responsibility.

CRF Governance Structure

The CRF Executive Board will monitor progress against this EDI strategy at quarterly meetings where senior representatives from STH and UoS are members and monthly at CRF Senior Management Team meetings.

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Partner and Collaborator Strategies

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) published their ‘Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter (2021)’ outlining the national focus to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. To effectively achieve this, it will be vital to ensure equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded throughout. To support the success of this the NIHR has launched an EDI strategy 2022-2027 which will collaboratively implement inclusive practice across research, culture and systems. You can access the full NIHR EDI strategy here.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT (STH) published its ‘EDI strategy 2021 - 2025’ to reflect the Trusts commitment to ensuring that services are fully accessible and that they meet the diverse needs of the people that STH serves. Key to delivering an impactful strategy, STH will work towards:

You can read the full STH NHS FT EDI strategy here.

The University of Sheffield (UoS) published its ‘One University - A vision for our future 2020 - 2025’ which champions key values to success via collaboration and embedding EDI throughout its pillars (Research, Innovation, Education, One University). As part of this, UoS are striving towards objectives, including:

You can read more about the UoS strategies by clicking the links below:

One University - a vision for our future

Race Equality Strategy and Action Plan

LGBT+ Equality Strategy & Action Plan

Disability Equality Strategy and Action Plan

Religion, Belief and No-Belief Strategy & Action Plan


Primary Care Sheffield includes EDI research throughout its structure, as evidenced by the diagram (right).

Structure of Primary Care Sheffield, demonstrating how EDI is embedded throughout

Appendix 2 - Diversity Data to Collect 

Consistent with NIHR’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-27 and the Equality Act 2010, we aim to explore ways to collect improved diversity data from our participants and staff in a sensitive way and in line with NIHR guidance, Trust requirements and GDPR. 

Following this, we plan to implement a diversity data form. We will aim to offer this to all BRC and CRF staff and trainees and implement this in all BRC and CRF funded or supported studies where possible. The data will help inform us on how inclusive the workforce and studies are in Sheffield currently, and where we need to implement targeted strategies for improvement. 

We will develop the form in line with the NIHR Standard for Diversity Data (currently in development), which will cover data governance and when and how to ask diversity monitoring questions and our EDI colleagues. 

Specific NIHR question guidance we will follow includes: 

In the form we will clearly outline why we are collecting these data and how the data will be used, to foster increased trust and improve response rates. We will ensure ethical approval is in place for collecting these data in each study and that we have a safe, secure location to store the data once collected. We aim to collect data around socio-economic status and across the 9 protected characteristics outlined by the Equality Act 2010 which include:

We are also aware of the impacts of intersectionality, recognising that multiple social identities overlap to exacerbate the experience of inequities. We hope that by collecting these diversity data, we will be able to better understand our workforce and participants and promote increased diversity beyond the picture established at baseline.

Appendix 3 - Terminology

Equality

Ensuring that everyone is given equal access to resources and opportunities to utilise their skills and talents. Taking a systems approach to what we do and how we do it and identifying and removing long standing, structural barriers to success.

Equity

Trying to understand and give people what they need to achieve their potential, promoting principles of fairness, justice, entitlements, and rights.

Diversity

Being reflective of the wider community. Having a diverse community, with people from a broad range of backgrounds represented in all areas and at all levels.

Inclusion

An approach where groups or individuals with different backgrounds are welcomed, culturally and socially accepted, and treated equally. Engaging with each person as an individual. A sense of belonging that is respectful of people for who they are.

Intersectionality

A framework that acknowledges that all people have unique experiences of discrimination and disadvantage exacerbated by the overlap of multiple social identities.

Protected characteristics

Identified in the Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics are a set of nine characteristics which have evidence to show there is still significant discrimination in these areas in employment, provision of goods and access to services.

Appendix 4 - Legislation/Policies

Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 brings together a number of existing laws into one place so that it is easier to use. It sets out the personal characteristics that are protected by the law and the behaviours that are unlawful such as discrimination, harassment, or victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected by the Act.

Equality Delivery System for the NHS

The EDS2 is a system that helps local NHS systems and organisations, in discussion with local partners and local populations, to review and improve their services for the local community and provide better working environments for people with characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010.

NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES)

Comprises a set of nine metrics supporting Ethnic Minority staff in relation to recruitment, career development and training and addresses negative outcomes relating to disciplinary process and the disproportionate impact of harassment, bullying and victimisation.

NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES)

Comprises a set of metrics that enables a comparison of the experiences of our disabled and non-disabled staff, with the aim of ensuring equitable and positive outcomes, reporting annually.

Appendix 5: EDI Case Study of CognoSpeakTM

Previously, the BRC and its researchers have worked closely with ethnic minority groups to develop and deliver research projects.

A strong example of this is our ‘CognoSpeak’ project, led by Dr Dan Blackburn which has had high levels of involvement from the Israac Somali Community Association charity.

This has included employing community research champions to recruit from the community, co-developing recruitment videos and study documents and ultimately developing an enduring relationship with this traditionally under-served group.

Case study diagram of the CognoSpeak Study

Appendix 6: Case Study: Involving Research Patients in Shaping the Service Offered by the NIHR Sheffield CRF

The CRF has previous experience of working with diverse groups to enhance and improve facilities for patients.

In supporting the BRC the CRF saw an increase in the number of research studies involving patients living with Dementia. It was important to the CRF that the facilities were suitable for use by this patient group. We worked closely with the South Yorkshire Dementia Advisory Group (SYDEM RAG), Sheffield Hospitals Charity Trust and colleagues across STH to create a reception area that was dementia-friendly. The SYDEM RAG membership included patients living with dementia and their carers.

Creating a Dementia Friendly Reception in the NIHR Sheffield CRF

Through welcomed conversations we learned that the environment was important to patients living with dementia and that small changes can go a long way to reducing stress and confusion. Also, that signage and comfortable seating made a difference to the experience of this patient group.

Work to ensure a contrast between walls, flooring and furniture was undertaken in reception and the patient toilet. In addition, signage was improved, seating was replaced, clocks and artwork were changed.

Work was completed in March 2020. There are plans for SYDEM RAG feedback to be provided.

Layout of the CRF waiting room prior to receiving feedback from the South Yorkshire Dementia Advisory Group

Before

The CRF waiting room following feedback from people living with dementia including comfier chairs and less cluttered walls

After

The CRF waiting room following feedback from people living with dementia including comfier chairs and less cluttered walls

After

Acknowledgements and Thanks

The refurbishment scheme was supported by: