The Research Helpdesk – all the ways we support you

Blog - 2 September 2022

Find out how the Healthwatch England Research and Insight team can help you with your research questions and professional development.
Two women sitting on a bench. They are in a town centre on a sunny day. The woman on the left is wearing a red top. The woman on the right is smiling, wearing sunglasses and wearing a light blue top with Healthwatch logo.

The Healthwatch England Research and Insight team analyses people's experience of care to inform our national policy report. We also offer advice, networking and learning opportunities to build your research skills and support you on projects. We have over 80 years of research experience between us, from market research to clinical trials, and are always happy to help.  

How can we help you?

  • Online clinics – we offer informal research clinics every month. These clinics are a chance to sit down with a member of the team and discuss any research problems you may have. People have spoken to us to refine their surveys, talk through the design of their study, and discuss data analysis. If you’d like to talk to us for an hour, fill in this short sign-up form, and one of us will be in touch to help you.
  • Information requests – we can help you find information about different topics, whether you’re working on a specific project or just looking for general insights. We can help you find other local Healthwatch projects, relevant work by other organisations, or publicly available datasets.
  • Research guidance – we can answer specific questions about the research process for you, including questions about planning projects, designing methodology, analysing data, consent, and GDPR. We have also created a range of written guidance and e-learning courses to support you through the research process, including our bank of sample survey questions.
  • Demographics support – collecting demographics is a great way to identify health inequalities in your area. We offer support on how to collect and analyse demographic data, including taxonomies and sample questions. You can also book a research clinic if you want one-to-one support collecting or analysing demographic data.
  • Training and events – we run a range of events throughout the year, including training sessions, reports showcase webinars, networking meetings, and sessions during Healthwatch Week. Keep an eye out for them on the training and events page.
  • National Healthwatch England project queries – we can provide information, advice and guidance about national projects that Healthwatch England are working on, and what we’re monitoring in the month ahead.

Networking

The Research Helpdesk Workvivo page is a friendly group of research and engagement staff across the Healthwatch community. The Healthwatch England Research Team regularly share updates on what we’re working on, new guidance, and information about upcoming events. This is a great place to share what you’re currently working on or ask staff from other local Healthwatch for help and support.

Our Research and Insight Network Group is made up of local Healthwatch staff who are interested in research and sharing examples of good practice. Email research@healthwatch.co.uk if you’d like to join our mailing list, to get up-to-date information about what we’re working on and what meetings are coming up.

Sharing data with Healthwatch England

  • Support with data sharing – we know there are many different ways you can share your data with us, and your data is used for different purposes. We can  support you in sharing data with us, to meet your legal obligations . We can also share what your data has been used for and how local Healthwatch data informs the work we do at Healthwatch England.
  • National Reports Library support – we maintain the National Reports Library and support the network to share and upload their reports. Together, we can create a rich data source for the public and the Healthwatch network to use.
  • Digital transformation – we know that how you share your data with us is changing with the retirement of CiviCRM, the introduction of a new data sharing system, and the ability to upload your own reports coming soon. We can signpost you to the people and resources you need to answer your questions about the transformation.