NHS-R Community regularly host webinars, workshops, blogs and podcasts to share the communities knowledge, experience and often, enthusiasm, for subjects ranging from specifically technical (R, Python, git) to where data science has helped analytical problems in healthcare data. There is always scope for trying things out with the community and the following sections are guidelines on what we have tried and is in no way a definitive list.
Virtual hosting platforms (important)
Until October 2024 NHS-R Community used a Zoom account as well as hosting events using MS Teams. Zoom is no longer used as the hosting organisation NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU do not have it on their approved software list.
Webinars
NHS-R Community host an hour long virtual webinar most often on a Thursday, usually the last of the month. Sessions are recorded and posted onto the NHS-R Community YouTube channel and collated together in the playlist Webinars. Content can relate to anything healthcare (including social care) and/or R coding. Webinars on other data science subjects like Python and Git/GitHub are also very welcome.
There is no restriction on who can attend the webinar and people can join/sign up through the NHS-R Community website.
NHS-R Community host volunteers running the Introduction to R and R Studio course once a month virtually. This usually is on the 3rd Wednesday of the month and is over two half days but is flexible to the availability of the person leading the workshop.
Co-hosts can also attend and assist with:
checking the chat,
any technical issues with the Host leaving the call (if a Host has a power cut for example and leaves the meeting it closes for everyone) and
it can be agreed between the host and co-host to share sections of the training.
Materials are available in a chapter form from NHS-R Community GitHub to allow people the flexibility on what to cover in a session according to the time available. There is enough content for 3 half days, however, most often only 2 half days (or 1 full day) is volunteered.
These courses are very popular and are often fully subscribed and have a waiting list. We encourage people to join a full workshop as people have been offered places as people have notified they cannot attend and we also use these lists for future courses to invite people in advance of sharing publicly.
Recordings are always made available to attendees but are not always made public as recordings are already on available. However, if you wish to have a workshop you have led included these can be added if permission has been sought from the attendees before recordings have been started. See section Video Recording for more information.
Contributions and changes to the materials are always welcome and can be made via the GitHub repository.
Other workshops
Workshops, other than the regular Introduction to R and R Studio, are very welcome and we’ve had talks from other languages (Python) as well as specific subjects like statistics. All workshops are recorded and, unless specifically requested not to, are shared publicly. See section Video Recording for more information.
The length of a workshop can vary according to the content the person/people wish to deliver and have been 1 hour long, half a day or a whole day.
Workshop formats often include some code along or exercises.
Podcasts
Podcasts were originally shared through SoundCloud with a paid account and are now available through Substack and on YouTube with manually checked subtitles.
The NHS-R Community use the free version of Slack to facilitate conversations between members. Many people join the Slack group and enjoy reading the conversations without ever joining in and that’s ok as this is the best place to find out what’s happening with the community and a lot can be learned from others’ conversations. Because this is a free account we don’t have a history of posts but they would be available if we moved to a paid account.
Managing own Slack accounts
Because the Slack account is a free version people will need to manage their own accounts
This includes any password resets, two-factor authentication security and changes of emails
Where two accounts have been set up because of access loss, administrators can delete the unused account
Details of who is Slack admin can be found in the pinned notice in the #general channel
Accessing the Slack
Some organisations’ emails have been added to the white list but because there are so many public sector organisations it may be that you require an individual link to join. Please contact the central email the core development team for the link. Links that are shared are only available for several days.
It’s best to use an organisational email for the group, but not necessary, and you are also able to change the email once you’ve joined.
Deletion of accounts on Slack
Unfortunately with the free account we are unable to change email addresses which has affected some people when they move to a new organisation and require a password reset or use the Slack system of emailing a joining link. However, we can delete any old account to avoid confusion to others on the Slack so they will only tag or direct message the active account.
Other than this situation, we would only ever delete an account due to Code of Conduct issues.
Slack security
Administrators on the Slack can see email addresses and we can bulk email, however, we do not and have not used emails to contact people in bulk. Emails are not visible to others on the Slack workspace but people can Direct Message (DM) and those messages are not visible to administrators.
In line with good security principles we strongly suggest using two factor authentication for the Slack group.
Note
You will need this for each Slack workspace that you have joined.
X (formerly X)
The account for X is no longer used for active content however the account will not be closed completely because account names are recycled.
Fosstodon server on Mastodon
With the change in ownership to X and a great deal of the NHS-R Community audience moving to Mastodon an NHS-R Community account is also managed through the open source content server, Fosstodon. This account is managed by the administrative support for NHS-R Community.
Website
Closing of WordPress site (warning)
Work is in progress (as of September 2024) to close the WordPress site and move to a Quarto site published through GitHub and with event registration being supported from an external system.
The following information will be archived
The NHS-R Community website is built using WordPress and managed through VergeLabs. We use the website to promote the NHS-R Community but also as an event management system where people can join the community events like the monthly webinars, conferences and other events.
Joining the website
Signing up is at no cost but email addresses are visible to the maintainers of the website, VergeLabs, and also the the core development team. We do not use email addresses to bulk email and contact is only ever in relation to the event that has been signed up for or to update the member on the website, for example any changes to terms and conditions.
Fringe and Core membership
Access to register events is based on the membership level and the default is Fringe member. Core memberships is available to all NHS, public sector, civil servants, voluntary sector, charities and academia and allows registration to all workshops and webinars.
We also allow Core membership for anyone who has retired and was in these service and ask that you contact in advance, if possible, of your retirement and from a work address.
We restrict the numbers to workshops and so restrict places to just Core members. Webinars though, don’t have the same restrictions and so are open to both Core and Fringe members to attend the live event. The site automatically detects emails according to a white list that is maintained through the website and so we can add to that when notified at the core development team.
Author membership
Authors are a status in the system given to those who have submitted a blog and this links their details with the blog. WordPress only allows for one status so this may affect the joining of events.
Changes of emails on website
As emails can be changed we will periodically go through and update personal emails to Fringe from Core, particularly around events like the conference.
Deletion of website membership
Accounts cannot be deleted by the member themselves but can be deleted by emailing us through the unsubscribe link which creates a blank email with the word unsubscribe in the header. No other detail is required for the email and we will confirm when the account has been deleted.
Periodically we will email to update members on information in relation the website, for example any changes to terms and conditions, and delete any accounts with emails that are not delivered. Consequently, please always use a real email address if you want your account to stay active.
We use the Government Notify system which is also available for Public Sector organisations to use. Data is kept for 90 days and links from the emails are not tracked, however, we use Google Analytics on our published sites and books.
Password resets
It is possible to request a password reset, however, if this is going to an address that has changed due to organisational change or you have moved job, please contact the core development team for this to be updated manually.
Issues with apostrophes in emails
Unfortunately, where work email addresses have included the apostrophe in a person’s surname the WordPress site prevents sign up but doesn’t give a meaningful message. We’ve attempted to force the system by updating the email in the back, however, this still means a person cannot access the account as functionality is impaired because of the non-standard character. As we understand it, this is an issue on many systems so suggest that, where work emails have provided the email with an apostrophe that an alias account is linked without it to get around this issue.
For NHS-R Community it’s possible to sign up with a personal email and notify the the core development team about having your account set to Core Member.
Membership access to courses
We restrict the numbers to workshops and offer these to Core members. Webinars though, don’t have the same restrictions and so are open to everyone.
Core membership is available to all NHS, public sector, civil servants, voluntary sector, charities and academia. Ticket systems like Pretix allow for accounts to be set up directly with them and through this we can offer “season tickets” once accounts have been accepted as Core members based on the email address. Any restricted ticket event will be restricted to all or mostly Core membership tickets.
We are currently going through NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU Information Governance and Cyber security systems to approve the Pretix system.
Pretix is an open source ticket system built on Python. Whilst it’s possible to host your own server we will be using the managed hosting system from Pretix itself.
The approval for Core membership will rely on the core development team approving on a case by case basis and if you are in a situation where you would like a Core membership but cannot apply (for example you cannot use your work email or will be retiring) please contact the core development team with details of your situation.
We also allow Core membership for anyone who has retired and was in these services and ask that you contact in advance, if possible, of your retirement and from a work address.
To delete or change and account we can Anonymize your account where:
All orders will be disconnected from this customer account. The orders themselves will not be anonymized and can still contain personal information! The customer will no longer be able to log in and will lose access to any membership benefits. This action is irreversible.
Event data retention
Pretix offers the use of data shredders and we will remove all data from an event 3 to 6 months.
If this is an event that occurs on a series of days (like for Coffee and Coding) we will delete the event which is distinct to the order so future registrations are unaffected.
Security of account
We recommend using 2FA (two-factor authentication) for any ticket system account you may set up to sign up to NHS-R Community events.
Password resets and updating of details
It is possible to change email addresses/names and request a password reset directly with Pretix or contact the core development team where we can trigger a manual password reset.
Waiting list
Event systems like Pretix allow for automatic waiting list management which means that a ticket can be automatically reassigned to a person next on the waiting list. We can change the settings for this and the default is 48 hours, but for popular events or those that are occurring in a few days we will reduce this response time.
Surveys
We will use surveys for events to collect data that helps us understand. The following questions were used for Coffee and Coding, *are next to mandatory questions:
Where you heard about the event? *
Social media
Website
Word of Mouth
Slack
Other (expand in a separate question)
Where you work?
NHS Provider Trust
ICB
Primary Care
Commissioning Support Unit
Civil Service
National Bodies (NHS England)
Ambulance Trust
Local Authorities
Charity
Voluntary Sector
Other (expand in a separate question)
How would you describe your level of R knowledge?
None/I’m totally new
A beginner with the basics
A reasonably confident beginner
Intermediate, I can do some interesting stuff, maybe some functions
Intermediate, pretty confident, building functions and basic RAP workflows
Advanced, fully RAP workflows
Advanced, perhaps object orientated R and advanced methods
How long have you been using R? *
Never
Less than one year
A year or two
Three years to five years
More than 5 years
What do you regularly use?
tidyverse
ggplot2
plotly
Plotting but not using ggplot2 or plotly
Quarto
Rmarkdown
Shiny
gt (tables)
dt tables
base R
data.table
Other (expand in a separate question)
Further questions for coffee and coding: - What would you like to see more of in coffee and coding? - What would you like to see less of in coffee and coding? - Are there any topics you would like us to cover in the future? - Any other comments?
We can extract the data from the surveys from Orders > Export > Order data which provides an Excel document with email addresses, order dates and times as well as answers to questions.
Protected characteristic questions (important)
If we were to ask any questions that relate to protected characteristics we will detail why this is being asked and also ensure that we have appropriate Information Governance approval.
Disaster recovery
We will back up who has signed up an event and will not have access to these lists so, in the event of Pretix being unavailable we will:
Communicate the issue we are experiencing and the action we will be taking via actively used Social Media and the newsletter
Depending on the type of event, when it is running and how long access to the registration system is expected to be unavailable we may either ask people to contact us about their registration, cancel and reschedule or cancel until further notice.
Alternative arrangements will be to use another event system that does not charge for free events or, if this is not possible to use, collect registrations manually. Under these circumstances we may not be able to offer a waiting list process.
Mailing list/Newsletter
We have a free newsletter through Substack which is open to view or subscribe to. Subscriptions are managed directly by the user with Substack but emails are viewable to the NHS-R account.
Podcasts are also connected to Substack.
Video Recording
YouTube
We always intend to share recordings through YouTube publicly, however, we do respect where trainers or presenters ask specifically not to share recordings. We are able to edit parts of videos using YouTube editing, cutting or blurring parts and will do this when notified.
All videos are first uploaded as Unlisted which means that anyone can access the video with the share link. We ask that this link is not shared beyond the original people emailed.
If a video is not to be made public it will be moved to Private where only people can be given direct access to view the video. This cannot be the default setting, unfortunately, as it relies upon having a Google mail and because the videos are often signed up from a work email we cannot use this functionality.
If you had access to a video that becomes Private and still require access, please contact the central email with details, and if you are happy to share a Google email then please email this, from a work email so that we can verify your details.
Subtitles
YouTube applies automatic subtitles after a period of time of uploading but at the moment we don’t currently amend those subtitles given the time it requires. However, this is something that we would like to do in the future and this may mean we get support from community members.
We are copying Podcasts over to YouTube to include subtitles and are using Clipchamp to tidy them.
Blogs
We host blogs on the NHS-R Community website and are currently moving them over to a Quarto site (in development) and we welcome contributions from anyone who wishes to write about R, health and social care, data science techniques and can be just text or can include code. We review blogs before posting and will give feedback if there are any reasons that we can’t publish. Blogs are rarely removed so some will be out of date due to the changes in the programs like R and best practice.
Submissions for blogs can be in any format but need to be easily copied and pasted by the core development team. For this reason pdf formats are not necessarily the easiest to share content.
Blogs can also be submitted as a Pull Request to the dedicated (in development) Quarto website GitHub.
Alternative text
Pictures and charts can be included in the blogs and these are expected to have Alternative Text or Captions for greater accessibility.
This includes any pictures used for visual impact and not necessarily to add to the content directly.
People who have submitted blogs and who have accounts on the website have their account altered to be a Author which shows their name in the Post and means they can amend the blog and respond to any comments.
Coffee and coding
Coffee and coding is a group that was originally set up from NHS England and has been extended to anyone within the NHS-R Community. Details are in the blog.
In response to feedback and to assist with accessing these sessions, we have decided to mix up the days and times these meetings are on. Hopefully, this will allow us to increase our reach. We will still be running a session every two weeks, but the day will change across Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
We strive to maintain community led content and would very much like to tailor these sessions to be useful, no matter what stage you at with your R journey.
There is a constant call to show us what you have been up to, anything you are working on, any issues you may have. This is an opportunity to share what you have learned and to ask a wider audience how to do things. Get some friendly feedback and QA. We very much want to foster this as a safe space to ask questions, get advice and create possible spin off sessions if there are specific areas to cover.
Your input into making these sessions interactive and your feedback is critical in steering these sessions. These are your sessions, and you have a voice as to what you would like to see.
Getting calendar invitations
No need to book (tip)
There is no requirement to book in for Coffee and Coding but the following information details how to get the joining link if you haven’t already got it and how to get calendar appointments.
The group is virtual and through MS Teams on the same link. Booking is through https://events.nhsrcommunity.com/coffee-and-code/ which generates an email with the link and a calendar invitation ics.
Note that the events are only for 2024.
Each event in the calendar needs to be selected and booking can either be as a guest or you can create an account. Setting up an account can be useful for joining other NHS-R Community events as detailed in the membership access section.
There is a short survey, which appears for each event, but there are only a few questions that are mandatory and these can be copied from the first event using a Copy answers from above button. The following short clip shows how to select multiple events, fill in the survey and copy the answer and confirming selection as a guest:
If you do create an account the survey answers you have made can be retained for future events (there is a tick box at the bottom of each survey):
The email that is sent to confirm will contain an .ics file for each of the events which can be opened and saved as an Outlook appointment:
More information about the ticket system see the section on membership access.
Recordings
Recordings are available through Future NHS which is a platform that anyone can join but workspaces are sometimes restricted. The NHS England R Community workspace where the Coffee and Coding recordings are not restricted.
Social Media
NHS-R Slack
https://nhsrcommunity.slack.com/
The NHS-R Community use the free version of Slack to facilitate conversations between members. Many people join the Slack group and enjoy reading the conversations without ever joining in and that’s ok as this is the best place to find out what’s happening with the community and a lot can be learned from others’ conversations. Because this is a free account we don’t have a history of posts but they would be available if we moved to a paid account.
Accessing the Slack
Some organisations’ emails have been added to the white list but because there are so many public sector organisations it may be that you require an individual link to join. Please contact the central email the core development team for the link. Links that are shared are only available for several days.
It’s best to use an organisational email for the group, but not necessary, and you are also able to change the email once you’ve joined.
Deletion of accounts on Slack
Unfortunately with the free account we are unable to change email addresses which has affected some people when they move to a new organisation and require a password reset or use the Slack system of emailing a joining link. However, we can delete any old account to avoid confusion to others on the Slack so they will only tag or direct message the active account.
Other than this situation, we would only ever delete an account due to Code of Conduct issues.
Slack security
Administrators on the Slack can see email addresses and we can bulk email, however, we do not and have not used emails to contact people in bulk. Emails are not visible to others on the Slack workspace but people can Direct Message (DM) and those messages are not visible to administrators.
In line with good security principles we strongly suggest using two factor authentication for the Slack group.
You will need this for each Slack workspace that you have joined.
X (formerly X)
The account for X is no longer used for active content however the account will not be closed completely because account names are recycled.
Fosstodon server on Mastodon
With the change in ownership to X and a great deal of the NHS-R Community audience moving to Mastodon an NHS-R Community account is also managed through the open source content server, Fosstodon. This account is managed by the administrative support for NHS-R Community.
Website
Work is in progress (as of September 2024) to close the WordPress site and move to a Quarto site published through GitHub and with event registration being supported from an external system.
The following information will be archived
The NHS-R Community website is built using WordPress and managed through VergeLabs. We use the website to promote the NHS-R Community but also as an event management system where people can join the community events like the monthly webinars, conferences and other events.
Joining the website
Signing up is at no cost but email addresses are visible to the maintainers of the website, VergeLabs, and also the the core development team. We do not use email addresses to bulk email and contact is only ever in relation to the event that has been signed up for or to update the member on the website, for example any changes to terms and conditions.
Fringe and Core membership
Access to register events is based on the membership level and the default is Fringe member. Core memberships is available to all NHS, public sector, civil servants, voluntary sector, charities and academia and allows registration to all workshops and webinars.
We also allow Core membership for anyone who has retired and was in these service and ask that you contact in advance, if possible, of your retirement and from a work address.
We restrict the numbers to workshops and so restrict places to just Core members. Webinars though, don’t have the same restrictions and so are open to both Core and Fringe members to attend the live event. The site automatically detects emails according to a white list that is maintained through the website and so we can add to that when notified at the core development team.
Author membership
Authors are a status in the system given to those who have submitted a blog and this links their details with the blog. WordPress only allows for one status so this may affect the joining of events.
Changes of emails on website
As emails can be changed we will periodically go through and update personal emails to Fringe from Core, particularly around events like the conference.
Deletion of website membership
Accounts cannot be deleted by the member themselves but can be deleted by emailing us through the unsubscribe link which creates a blank email with the word
unsubscribein the header. No other detail is required for the email and we will confirm when the account has been deleted.Periodically we will email to update members on information in relation the website, for example any changes to terms and conditions, and delete any accounts with emails that are not delivered. Consequently, please always use a real email address if you want your account to stay active.
We use the Government Notify system which is also available for Public Sector organisations to use. Data is kept for 90 days and links from the emails are not tracked, however, we use Google Analytics on our published sites and books.
Password resets
It is possible to request a password reset, however, if this is going to an address that has changed due to organisational change or you have moved job, please contact the core development team for this to be updated manually.
Issues with apostrophes in emails
Unfortunately, where work email addresses have included the apostrophe in a person’s surname the WordPress site prevents sign up but doesn’t give a meaningful message. We’ve attempted to force the system by updating the email in the back, however, this still means a person cannot access the account as functionality is impaired because of the non-standard character. As we understand it, this is an issue on many systems so suggest that, where work emails have provided the email with an apostrophe that an alias account is linked without it to get around this issue.
For NHS-R Community it’s possible to sign up with a personal email and notify the the core development team about having your account set to Core Member.
Membership access to courses
We restrict the numbers to workshops and offer these to Core members. Webinars though, don’t have the same restrictions and so are open to everyone.
Core membershipis available to all NHS, public sector, civil servants, voluntary sector, charities and academia. Ticket systems like Pretix allow for accounts to be set up directly with them and through this we can offer “season tickets” once accounts have been accepted asCore membersbased on the email address. Any restricted ticket event will be restricted to all or mostlyCore membershiptickets.We are currently going through NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU Information Governance and Cyber security systems to approve the Pretix system.
Pretix is an open source ticket system built on Python. Whilst it’s possible to host your own server we will be using the managed hosting system from Pretix itself.
The approval for
Core membershipwill rely on the core development team approving on a case by case basis and if you are in a situation where you would like a Core membership but cannot apply (for example you cannot use your work email or will be retiring) please contact the core development team with details of your situation.We also allow Core membership for anyone who has retired and was in these services and ask that you contact in advance, if possible, of your retirement and from a work address.
Account deletion or changes
Please contact the core development team for any of the following:
To delete or change and account we can
Anonymizeyour account where:Event data retention
Pretix offers the use of data shredders and we will remove all data from an event 3 to 6 months.
If this is an event that occurs on a series of days (like for Coffee and Coding) we will delete the event which is distinct to the order so future registrations are unaffected.
Security of account
We recommend using 2FA (two-factor authentication) for any ticket system account you may set up to sign up to NHS-R Community events.
Password resets and updating of details
It is possible to change email addresses/names and request a password reset directly with Pretix or contact the core development team where we can trigger a manual password reset.
Waiting list
Event systems like Pretix allow for automatic waiting list management which means that a ticket can be automatically reassigned to a person next on the waiting list. We can change the settings for this and the default is 48 hours, but for popular events or those that are occurring in a few days we will reduce this response time.
Surveys
We will use surveys for events to collect data that helps us understand. The following questions were used for Coffee and Coding,
*are next to mandatory questions:Further questions for coffee and coding: - What would you like to see more of in coffee and coding? - What would you like to see less of in coffee and coding? - Are there any topics you would like us to cover in the future? - Any other comments?
We can extract the data from the surveys from Orders > Export > Order data which provides an Excel document with email addresses, order dates and times as well as answers to questions.
If we were to ask any questions that relate to protected characteristics we will detail why this is being asked and also ensure that we have appropriate Information Governance approval.
Disaster recovery
We will back up who has signed up an event and will not have access to these lists so, in the event of Pretix being unavailable we will:
Depending on the type of event, when it is running and how long access to the registration system is expected to be unavailable we may either ask people to contact us about their registration, cancel and reschedule or cancel until further notice.
Alternative arrangements will be to use another event system that does not charge for free events or, if this is not possible to use, collect registrations manually. Under these circumstances we may not be able to offer a waiting list process.