Questions and Answers About SCPOR Governance and Decision-Making

Questions and Answers about SCPOR governance and decision-making

Q1: Who is ultimately accountable for SCPOR and to whom?

A1: SCPOR is a collaboration of 8 Saskatchewan organizations which have committed resources to SCPOR. The Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) has provided funding to match 1:1 the resources committed by the Saskatchewan organizations. SCPOR Host Council, which has membership from the College of Medicine, U of Saskatchewan, and Health Quality Council, bears fiduciary responsibility for the entire SCPOR operation. As such Host Council is the highest level of accountability in the SCPOR governance structure and is ultimately accountable for oversight of the operation of SCPOR in accordance with resourcing agreements that will be put in placebetween Host Council and each of the provincial partner organizations and the agreement between the University of Saskatchewan (on behalf of SCPOR Host Council) and CIHR. Thus Host Council is accountable to the provincial partners and, through the agency of the University of Saskatchewan, to CIHR for proper use of the resources entrusted to this collaborative entity.

SCPOR Host Council hires the Executive Director of SCPOR, who will report to Host Council. The SCPOR Executive Director will be accountable to Host Council for all aspects of operations of SCPOR.

SCPOR Oversight Committee is the table of provincial organization partners and is accountable to Host Council for strategic oversight of the operations of SCPOR. While the Executive Director is not hired by the Oversight Committee, he or she is accountable to present an annual operational plan and regular progress updates to the Oversight Committee for their input and approval. It is Oversight Committee’s responsibility to ensure that SCPOR develops in accordance with the shared goals of the provincial partners and CIHR as expressed through the SCPOR Vision, Mission and Values. SCPOR Oversight Committee will come to agreement with the Executive Director on an annual operational plan and will recommend the plan for formal approval by Host Council. Host Council will approve the operational plan recommended to it by Oversight Committee unless the plan contravenes the terms of agreements in place between Host Council and the Saskatchewan partner organizations or the agreement with CIHR.

Q2 : Who provides final sign off on strategy? On content? On execution?

A2: As outlined in the answer to Q1, Host Council technically provides final sign-off on strategy, however it only exercises a final check on strategy to ensure it is true to the agreements in place through which SCPOR is resourced. That is, Host Council provides approval that the strategy meets the fiduciary requirements.

Oversight Committee engages with the Executive Director in development of strategy and provides approval for it to be brought forward to Host Council. The Executive Director has responsibility to develop the content of the strategy and operations plan and to engage Oversight Committee in that development work and seek their agreement to advance the strategy and operational plan to Host Council for final (fiduciary) approval.

Execution of the strategyand operational plan is the responsibility of the Executive Director, who is accountable to keep the Oversight Committee informed of progress and major issues pertaining to execution of the strategy and operational plan. The Executive Director is ultimately accountable to Host Council for his or her performance in managing SCPOR in accordance with the plan.

Q3: Who has influence over strategy? On content? On execution?

A3:As described above, Oversight Committee will have influence over strategy. There will also be a process established by which senior leadership and governors of the health system in Saskatchewan will interact with SCPOR governance and the Executive Director to identify areas of health system improvement priority that will be important inputs to SCPOR strategic priority setting. The process between senior leaders and governors of the health system and SCPOR will be one of mutual engagement, learning and influence – in order to ensure that SCPOR’s research is of high value to the health system and thus more likely to have significant impact on health care policy and practice.

Importantly – patient and family advisors will be involved directly in this process and in the SCPOR and health system strategic planning processes that lead up to it. The SCPOR Patient and Family Advisory Committee, the Indigenous Advisory Committee, and the Patient/Family and Indigenous Advisors on SCPOR Oversight Committee will all be engaged in influencing the content of SCPOR strategy through their ongoing engagement in advising and shaping SCPOR.

There will be many who influence on execution of the strategy and operational plan: The Executive and Associate Directors of SCPOR, the SCPOR Platform leadership team, the SCPOR Program Oversight Committees (pertaining to operations of specific SCPOR programs), the patient/family and Indigenous advisors, clinicians, policy makers and researchers engaged in each of the projects and programs.

Q4: What decisions does the Executive Director have control over - for example, if the communications lead develops content and the Executive Director approves it, is this sufficient? Can the information then be shared with the broader team?

A3: The Executive Director will have control over operational decisions. That said, SCPOR is a new partnership of organizations that aims to create a kind of collaboration in the area of applied research on a scale and degree that has not been attempted before. Several of the partner organizations have invested heavily in the development of the SCPOR collaboration and do so because they believe they can better achieve important elements of their own organizational missions through this partnership than they could working on their own. Therefore, it will serve the Executive Director well to communicate often and effectively with the partner organizations (at least through their Oversight Committee member) and seek their advice often. It is expected that, as the value of SCPOR begins to prove itself over the first few years, and its processes of work and interaction with the partners become more routine, strong trust in the Executive Director’s operational decision making will develop.

Q4: How are research projects that SCPOR works on/supports to be selected? Who has final sign off? Is there a formal process? What does it look like? How will it be communicated?

A4: This is still an area of policy and procedure development. At present (in this early start-up phase), SCPOR resources are being directed to assist with research projects:

selected through the SHRF patient-oriented research competition;
selected through a once-only ‘expressions of interest’ process run by SCPOR last Spring;
related to provincial health system priorities that were already ongoing prior to SCPOR which are now serving to build capabilities/methodologies that will later be applied in other SCPOR projects; and
development of a first SCPOR Program in the area of mental health and addictions.

As SCPOR becomes more fully functional (in year 2+) the bulk of SCPOR support for research projects (namely the efforts of SCPOR staff, methodologists, and allocation of studentships/traineeships) will be allocated to projects within SCPOR programs, SPOR networks, and SHRF POR competition projects (in that order of priority). Other POR research projects – such as investigator-driven research projects – will be supported if resources are available and/or on a fee-for-service basis if supporting them will not compromise support for the higher priority work of SCPOR.

Determination of projects within SCPOR programs will be made primarily by the SCPOR Program Oversight Committee (SPOC) associated with each program. The SPOC will conduct a co-design process that will involve engagement of researchers, patients/families or communities, and other stakeholders in the health system. The research projects proposed through the guidance of the SPOC will also undergo independent scientific peer review to ensure sound science. The SPOC will operate with authority delegated by the Executive Director – and will be accountable to the Executive Director.

Determination of allocation of SCPOR resources to research projects not within SCPOR programs will be made by the Executive Director (with the Associate Director and Platform Leads), in accordance with the strategy and operational plan agreed to by Oversight Committee and approved by Host Council. The Executive Director will be responsible to develop a transparent process by which selection of projects and allocation of SCPOR resources will be made. This process will be part of the annual operational plan developed with participation and agreement of SCPOR Oversight Committee and approved by Host Council. When finalized the plans and processes of SCPOR will be communicated publicly via the SCPOR website and other regular communications vehicles (newsletter, etc). It will be the responsibility of the Executive Director to ensure regular communication with the Oversight Committee, Patient and Indigenous Advisory Committees, Host Council and other stakeholders during the development of SCPOR policies and processes to ensure stakeholders are appropriately and well informed, in order to continue to build trust and confidence in SCPOR.

Final sign-off on operational matters such as allocation of resources to specific research projects is the responsibility of the Executive Director.