Table 3.

Summary of the recruitment strategy implementation plan

Task	Priority	Actions taken
Section 1—PICs
Expansion of recruitment territory	High	Local geographical expansion of four more PICs within the remaining recruitment timeframe
Incentives for slimming world and exercise on referral staff	High	For exercise referral staff, a £20 high street voucher for the best recruiter bi-monthly. For SW consultants, a £20 voucher for every five participants recruited per month. There was also a £20 voucher for the best SW recruiter each month (N.B. GP PICs were reimbursed via NHS support costs)
Presenting to slimming world	High	Attend SW groups to present study to clients 47 meetings attended. Attend SW regional consultants meetings. 11 meetings attended
Increased SW HQ involvement	High	Advert placed in SW magazine and email from Head of Nutrition Research at SW to consultants encouraging involvement
Increased contact with PICs	High	Monthly phone contact with all PICs (n = 75), bi-monthly PIC newsletters, repeat training sessions
Engage with slimming club on referral from GP practices in South West England	Medium	Not implemented as study closed to recruitment before opening in SW England
Monitoring PICs	Medium	Monitor poor recruiters for support. Decided against closing them
Section 2—Advertising
Study website	High	Website live
Poster displays	High	Posters in non-PIC GP surgeries, local gyms and classes; hospital corridors; community centres
Local pharmacies	High	Posters displayed in pharmacies in Tesco (n = 26) and Sainsbury’s (n = 27) and local independent pharmacies
Large local employers and universities	High	21 companies and six universities advertised study via intranet
Press releases	Medium	Local newspapers printed two articles Item aired on local radio
Social media—Facebook and Twitter	Medium/ low	Accounts live and linked to SW pages and other relevant sites
Section 3—Other
Alter emphasis to target route 1	High	Altered posters and recruitment drive to focus on route 1 only
Close monitoring of recruitment rates and monthly recruitment targets	High	Figures examined weekly
Research network support	High	Area specific strategies given to network staff to implement locally CLRN nurse in Trent trained and engaged with CLRN in South West England
Establish links with other health professionals	High to medium	TMG members presented at dietetics meetings as well as to gym managers and fitness club managers Specialist weight management clinic advertising study
Collaborate with other weight loss studies	Medium	Unsuccessful due to lack of studies.
Maximize use of flagging systems on practice databases	Medium	Unsuccessful due to complexities of various practice systems
Manage screening process and follow up of route 2 participants	Medium	Contact maintained with route 2 participants but emphasis that they must contact the study team with evidence of their weight loss
Attend and present at local health events	Low	2 events attended but little impact on recruitment
Section 4—actions not pursued (and reasons why)
Use pharmacies as PICs	High	Not pursued due to resource implications involved in training sites
Complete database searches for PICs	High	Not pursued due to lack of REC approval
Increase visits to PICs to problem solve	Low	Not pursued due to lack of resource and likely low impact on recruitment rates
Link in with relevant patient groups	Low	Not pursued as study closed to recruitment
Target discussion forums/threads on the internet	Low	Not pursued as study closed to recruitment
Create links with other slimming groups	Low	Not pursued due to SW involvement
Placing adverts	Medium	Attempted to advertise on relevant internet sites but they were not appropriate/willing Paper, TV and radio—cost proved too expensive
Identify a local celebrity to champion the study	Medium	Attempted but unsuccessful

GP general practitioner, SW slimming world, HQ head quarters, PIC participant identification centre, CLRN comprehensive local research network, REC research ethics committee