Steering group minutes May 2026

Date: 20 May 2026

Time: 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Location: MS Teams

Chair: Dr Nicola Byrne, National Data Guardian

Dr Nicola Byrne welcomed members to the meeting. 

The chair drew attention to the Terms of Reference which had been sent by the secretariat. Only one amendment had been made, which set out a process for members to raise any concerns as the programme progressed. The Terms of Reference were confirmed. 

No conflicts of interest were raised by members.

Kaleidoscope facilitated this agenda item.

Kaleidoscope gave a recap on the overall design of the engagement programme, before moving into a specific focus on participant recruitment. Steering Group members were given an update and a chance to input on the recruitment strategy, including timelines, materials and the channels to be used to distribute the opportunity widely. 

Feedback from Steering Group members included:

• a note on upcoming holidays that may impact recruitment for the programme
• a suggestion on additional routes or channels to use for publicising the programme, these included local medical committees 
• a question about if GPs and Practice Managers could participate if they didn’t complete the survey. Kaleidoscope clarified they couldn’t, as the information in the survey was needed to ensure a diverse group of participants, and valid findings

Ipsos UK facilitated this agenda item.

Steering Group members were presented with an overview of the foundational engagement event. This would be an online, one hour event to build interest for the wider engagement programme. Ipsos presented the draft structure and agenda for the event, including the methods to make it interactive, whilst considering the audience’s differing levels of knowledge or interest about health data.

Feedback from Steering Group members included:

• suggestions of alternative wording and content for the foundational engagement to make it most engaging and encourage participation in the core deliberation
• concerns that the planned length of the event might be too long, or trying to cover too much content might be less engaging for participants. Some cuts were suggested to prevent the session feeling rushed
• a suggestion that it would be beneficial to cover why the engagement was happening, and what participants could meaningfully influence
• a note that case studies could be a beneficial way of explaining the different uses of NHS data

Ipsos UK facilitated this agenda item. 

The presentation discussed plans for masterclasses as part of the information provision for core deliberation. The masterclasses were planned to be short, 20-minute recordings on the three use cases to inform participants on the topic areas for deliberation. They aimed to provide extra information to upskill participants before the core deliberation events. 

Feedback from Steering Group members included:

• praise for the approach, as it would suit time-poor participants
• ideas for additional content (such as a Q&A, debate or infographic), to make the sessions more engaging
• a reminder of the need to make participants aware of the time commitment upon registration, so they weren’t surprised by the additional content 
• a suggestion that the masterclasses could be incorporated into the core deliberation so participants don’t feel behind if they can’t listen to them beforehand
• a few suggestions for external or alternative speakers to feature in the masterclasses, they could make the sessions more stimulating and add additional viewpoints for participants to consider

No other business was raised by members.

The chair thanked members for their contributions and closed the meeting.