Focus Group Structure

The focus group was led by an experienced focus group facilitator. The focus group was presented in a semi-structured format to allow constructive feedback from attendees. The focus group/dinner took approximately 2.5 hours. The structure of the evening was as follows:

• A brief background of the study followed by a presentation of the summary of the results of patients and carers’ focus groups and presenting the prototype.
• A free discussion with the doctors and nurses to get their insight and feedback on the prototype.
• A short presentation on the importance of understanding HbA1c.
• A presentation on the pilot trial of the prototype in practices (Support offered to clinics: What is involved in the pre-test? The benefits for participating practices).

A Dinner speaker (Endocrinologist with expertise in how the HbA1C reporting will change from a pathology measurement point of view) was also invited, in order to give a presentation on how the test measurements will change in the coming years. The focus group was digitally recorded for analysis, with the consent of participants. All data was transcribed and analysed to elicit common themes.