Reports from the Forest of Dean citizens’ jury
You can download and read the Forest of Dean Jurors Report from the 18 members of the citizens’ jury on the location of a new community hospital for the Forest of Dean. It was constructed using the words of the 18 jury members, from observations and statements they prepared together. A draft version was reviewed by jury members as part of the jury process on 3 August.
The Forest of Dean jury report includes further information (e.g. jury recruitment) about the jury. It was published in the papers for the 30 August meeting of NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust to decide on the new hospital location. At that meeting, the two Governing Bodies unanimously backed the recommendation of the jury for the new hospital to be built in Cinderford.
The 18 jury members also completed an on-line survey at the end of the jury where they assessed whether there was any bias, and described their experiences. You can read about this in the end of jury questionnaire summary results.
How the 18 jury members were selected
The opportunity for local people to be part of the citizens’ jury was advertised in a variety of places, and 218 people living within the Forest of Dean District applied to be members of the jury. The 18 members of the citizens’ jury were selected (to see how the jury was selected, click here). Five reserve jurors were also recruited.
The selection process for the citizens’ jury was designed to select a broadly representative sample of adults living in the Forest of Dean District. To find out more about the selection process and the characteristics of the people selected, click here.
What the citizens’ jury did
An overview of what happened over the four and a half days of the jury is described in the FoD citizens jury schedule. The questions the jury had to answer are set out in the FoD citizens jury specification.
A wide variety of witnesses were invited to give presentations to jurors on the first four days of the jury in line with the witness briefing document. Witnesses’ slides, and the other materials used by the jury each day, are available: 30 July materials; 31 July materials; 1 August materials; 2 August materials.
These slides and other materials were reviewed prior to the jury by an independent oversight panel to check that the jury was being provided with a fair balance of relevant information that did not bias any one of the three towns. The oversight panel members, chosen for their interest in the topic and lack of conflict of interest in any particular jury outcome, were Julia Butler-Hunt of Healthwatch Gloucestershire, Alan Grant of Forest of Dean District Council, Jem Sweet of Gloucestershire VCS Alliance. All three panel members stated they were completed satisfied that the citizens’ jury was successfully designed to minimise bias (see their signed questionnaires).