The NIHR Newcastle In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative engaged with people across the country during a Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences online public event.

An audience of over 60 met with members of our team and our insight panel for patients, public and carers during a virtual research coffee morning. The event was jointly hosted by ourselves, the Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Sciences Engagement team and VOICE, a large network of citizens across the UK.

We started the morning by summarising our work within the nationwide CONDOR Platform. This collaboration is accelerating research on the real-world use of the most promising new COVID-19 tests. Watch the presentation on YouTube.

We also explained key elements which we need to consider when we measure the reliability of COVID-19 tests. This presentation can also be found on YouTube.

All participants were then allocated to virtual breakout rooms to discuss the presentations. All groups felt that the messages around the prevalence of COVID-19 and the issues of mis-diagnoses were important to convey to the public even though they are complex. The attendees also discussed what else they would like to hear with regard to COVID-19 test research. This is helping to inform our future public engagement activities and the work of the wider CONDOR public group.

Feedback from participants was very positive:

• All six groups found the presentations clear, interesting and useful
• 100% of the participants said they now had more of an understanding of the issues around measuring accuracy of tests
• 90% said they thought the event was well organised
• 80% stated that they enjoyed the breakout rooms
• In 3 out of 6 groups, attendees thought the infographics were a helpful visual aid for explaining the concepts we covered

Towards the end of the meeting, a member of our insight panel for patients, public and carers also discussed his work with us. This can also be viewed on YouTube.

We are delighted to announce that we will be expanding our public panel as a result of the meeting. A number of people have shown an interest in joining our panel since the event.

To keep up to date with similar future events, please follow:
@NIHR_NCL_MIC
@EngageFMS
@VOICE_Global