Table 2 Overview of the priority setting... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Overview of the priority setting process

Project scope and preparation phase	Pre-roundtable planning	Roundtable reporting	Post-roundtable
Establishing governance and team members across agencies - Engaged team and setting of purpose and objectives Identify a guiding framework and review best practice approaches to priority setting - COVID-19 System Shock Framework - Two authors reviewed priority setting methods Initial collection of items for prioritisation - NSW Health Round 1 (R1) priorities - NSW Health Round 2 (R2) draft priorities identified through internal consultation process - Review of Academy Health report on rapid cycle evaluation Collating and categorising priorities - Two team members created an initial list - Deletion of irrelevant items, grouping under domains - Translate topics into statements, refinements made by other team members	Selection of a framework and a prioritisation methodology - Modified Nominal Group Technique - Develop and define criteria for prioritising items - Agreement on rating process Identification of participants - Engagement across NSW Health, Health Research Translation Centres, Health Services Researchers and clinicians across universities and health sector - Pre-roundtable survey sent out two days prior Defining clear processes for translation of methodology from traditional to online delivery - Instructions for group leaders, secretariat - Participant instructions - PowerPoint slides, IT resources	Engagement on the day - Chairperson outlined program and roundtable purpose - Priority setting tasks were explained to determine most important items - Breakout groups convened and chaired; secretariat assigned to ensure smooth transitions into groups - Recording of sessions for transcription “Success” in rating items across groups - Process of engagement over Zoom, scoring and ranking methodology - Team noted strengths and limitations of online engagement. Revision of scores and whole of group discussion - Whole group discussion to reach consensus before closing Rapid preparation of report - Final list of priorities submitted to NSW Health	Factors that impacted on final selection of items - Not a strategic investment - Not health services research - Undergoing internal evaluation Final priorities for R2 - Priorities released by NSW Health five weeks after roundtable - Applications close three weeks after release Lessons learned - Meaningful engagement across sectors into the priority setting process. Engagement of a large group of stakeholders via Zoom was feasible and achievable within tight time constraints - The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for more rapid and larger scale approaches to HSR and legitimised a strong and overt link between science and public policy - The research-policy nexus involves complex, messy and unpredictable processes that do not necessarily align with a linear process of formally developing research priorities - There is still more to be learned about what influence priority setting exercises has on outcomes

Project scope and preparation phase	Pre-roundtable planning	Roundtable reporting	Post-roundtable
Establishing governance and team members across agencies- Engaged team and setting of purpose and objectives Identify a guiding framework and review best practice approaches to priority setting- COVID-19 System Shock Framework - Two authors reviewed priority setting methods Initial collection of items for prioritisation- NSW Health Round 1 (R1) priorities - NSW Health Round 2 (R2) draft priorities identified through internal consultation process - Review of Academy Health report on rapid cycle evaluation Collating and categorising priorities- Two team members created an initial list - Deletion of irrelevant items, grouping under domains - Translate topics into statements, refinements made by other team members	Selection of a framework and a prioritisation methodology- Modified Nominal Group Technique - Develop and define criteria for prioritising items - Agreement on rating process Identification of participants- Engagement across NSW Health, Health Research Translation Centres, Health Services Researchers and clinicians across universities and health sector - Pre-roundtable survey sent out two days prior Defining clear processes for translation of methodology from traditional to online delivery- Instructions for group leaders, secretariat - Participant instructions - PowerPoint slides, IT resources	Engagement on the day- Chairperson outlined program and roundtable purpose - Priority setting tasks were explained to determine most important items - Breakout groups convened and chaired; secretariat assigned to ensure smooth transitions into groups - Recording of sessions for transcription “Success” in rating items across groups- Process of engagement over Zoom, scoring and ranking methodology - Team noted strengths and limitations of online engagement.Revision of scores and whole of group discussion- Whole group discussion to reach consensus before closing Rapid preparation of report- Final list of priorities submitted to NSW Health	Factors that impacted on final selection of items- Not a strategic investment - Not health services research - Undergoing internal evaluation Final priorities for R2- Priorities released by NSW Health five weeks after roundtable - Applications close three weeks after release Lessons learned- Meaningful engagement across sectors into the priority setting process. Engagement of a large group of stakeholders via Zoom was feasible and achievable within tight time constraints - The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for more rapid and larger scale approaches to HSR and legitimised a strong and overt link between science and public policy - The research-policy nexus involves complex, messy and unpredictable processes that do not necessarily align with a linear process of formally developing research priorities - There is still more to be learned about what influence priority setting exercises has on outcomes

Source(s): Authors’ original research data/created by the authorship team