Preparing Invitation Materials

This page describes processes for preparing invitation materials which GP Practices use to invite potential participants.

Table of contents

1. Providing resources to GP Practices
   1. Setting up Docmail access
   2. Creating headed invitation letters
   3. Creating list of potential participants
   4. Sharing documents with GP Practice
2. Inviting potential participants
3. Follow-up

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Providing resources to GP Practices

The following steps are taken with each GP Practice:

Setting up Docmail access

• Ask the GP Practice for a single contact email address for docmail.
• Ask the GP Practice if they would like to use their own headed paper for the mailing. If so, create a Practice-specific invitation letter using the headed paper (named v.1.0_docmail_<GP Practice Name>).
• Ask docmail to set up an account for the GP Practice (they will require a contact email address at the practice to do this).
• Include the invitation pack, printed on ‘Black and White Duplex (Double sided), consisting of:
  • invitation letter (either v1.0_docmail, or if using headed paper then v.1.0_docmail_<GP Practice Name>)
  • participant information sheet (v.1.2)
  • consent form (v1.3_docmail)
  • reply slip (v.1.0_docmail)
  • reply envelope (v.1.0)

Creating headed invitation letters

If using headed paper for a GP Practice, then create a Practice-specific invitation letter, placing the usual invitation letter on the headed paper. In doing so, take care to ensure that the header is not obscured by the address label placed in the upper left corner by docmail.

Creating list of potential participants

Create an excel spreadsheet of mail data (based on the template described here) (NB: there is a specific template named Template_Docmail_AddressList), and including the following fields:

• First name: _enter _
• Last name: _enter _
• Address 1,2,3,4,5: enter <Address #> (NB: don’t use ‘Address 6’)
• Custom 1: enter a reasonable mailing date
• Custom 2: enter GP Practice name
• Custom 3: enter GP Practice address (on one line, comma separated)
• Custom 4: _enter GP name (or ‘Dr ')_
• Custom 5: Invite ID (7 digits, of the form ‘W##-##-##’, generated by calculate_study_ids.m, where the practice ID required for this step is stored in safer_wearables_gp_practice_recruitment.xlsx.)

Save this spreadsheet as _‘_Docmail_AddressList'_ in the `gp_practice_docmail_lists` folder on OneDrive (which is acceptable as it doesn't contain identifiable data).

Sharing documents with GP Practice

Share the following documents with the GP Practice via NHS mail:

• Docmail Address List
• List of potential participants

Inviting potential participants

• (if requested at SIV) Arrange a convenient time for a remote meeting to send invitation letters.
  • Check that all address fields have been mapped correctly (in particular ‘Custom 4’ seems to default to ‘ignore’).

Follow-up

• (if necessary) Ask for confirmation that invitation letters have been sent.