Translational Research Grants Scheme

The following information is a guide for applicants seeking partnership - or involvement - from the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) in Translational Research Grants Scheme (TRGS) Proposals.

About the CEC

The CEC provides leadership in patient safety and quality in NSW to improve healthcare for patients. We are safety specialists committed to continuous improvement of patient safety and the experience of care for the people of NSW. Our partners are key to our success.

TRGS applicants are encouraged to identify and engage with relevant partners and agencies for the effective delivery of their research project and implementation of the outcomes in NSW.

To facilitate meaningful engagement, review and support of applications in a timely manner, an early and ongoing dialogue is required with the relevant CEC directorate/program team.

Confidentiality

The CEC maintains confidentiality through limited sharing of proposal information to only those necessary to comment on support and endorsement. We may also share proposals with research managers from other NSW state-level organisations (e.g. ACI, eHealth NSW, HETI, Cancer Institute NSW, NSW Health Pathology) where we think the project is a better fit or complementary fit for the work those agencies lead.

Levels of partnership

There are different levels of partnership with the CEC that TRGS applications may consider when approaching the CEC for support:

Inform

• Regular updates provided to CEC
• Results may inform future CEC policies and programs

Consult

• Research team seeks advice from CEC on an as-needed basis for safety and quality issues
• General advice on scale up and spread, stakeholder engagement

Involve

• CEC actively contributes to an advisory committee, steering committee and/or working group
• CEC actively supports knowledge dissemination among networks

Collaborate

• CEC contributes to the co-design of the project, or analysis of findings
• Findings can be directly integrated into CEC policies and programs to support implementation

Stage 1: Expressions of Interest (EOI)

1. Early engagement

   Applicants seeking CEC partnership or involvement in their TRGS proposals should discuss their proposal with the relevant CEC directorate/program team whilst the EOI is in draft form.

2. Review of proposal

   Applicants should send a draft TRGS EOI to the CEC to allow time to review the proposal. The TRGS EOI should document the CEC's role and resource commitment, outlining:

   • The person or program at the CEC contacted
   • The level of CEC support requested
   • The anticipated time commitment required from CEC staff.

   Draft expressions of interest must be sent to the CEC no later than 4 weeks prior to the host organisation closing date for EOI. Please include CEC-Knowledge@health.nsw.gov.au in your correspondence.

3. Preliminary decision and approval

When you have finalised and submitted your EOI to the CEC, requests for CEC partnership/involvement will be assessed on the following criteria:

• Alignment with the CEC Strategic Plan
• Alignment with specific priorities within the partnering directorate/program work plan
• The feasibility of participation from the CEC.

A decision on CEC partnership or involvement will be provided to applicants in writing.

Please allow two weeks for this process.

Stage 2: Invitation to progress to full application

1. Refine full application

   Applicants should obtain clarity about the role of the CEC and/or CEC staff prior to developing the full application. Draft full applications must be sent to the relevant CEC team no later than 4 weeks prior to the closing date. Please include CEC-Knowledge@health.nsw.gov.au in your correspondence.

2. Partner approval

Applications listing CEC as a partner organisation require the approval and signature of the Chief Executive (CE) and/or Director. CEC staff from relevant programs are required to prepare a partnership proposal form and brief and/or meet with the Chief Executive to discuss the request prior to approval.

Please allow two weeks for the approval part of this process.

For general research enquiries, and to provide feedback on this process, please contact: Principal Lead, Research, Evaluation & Knowledge: CEC-Knowledge@health.nsw.gov.au

Program contacts

If no response is received from these inboxes, please contact CEC-Knowledge@health.nsw.gov.au

Acknowledgement

The Clinical Excellence Commission acknowledges the Agency for Clinical Innovation in the development of this guide. This information is based on the "Translational Research Grants Scheme: Guide to applicants seeking ACI endorsement" published in 2018.