Table 1.

Nominal group meeting structure

Phase	Activity
Informed consent	Facilitator (BC) talks through participant information sheets and consent forms and answers any questions. Participants sign consent forms.
1: Introduction	Facilitator introduces the topic, explains our interest in it and asks participants to introduce themselves.
2: Silent reflection	Participants read the scenario and write comments.
3: Round robin	Facilitator elicits one comment from each participant and writes this on a flip chart. Discussion not allowed. Continues until comments exhausted.
4: Discussion	Facilitator guides discussion of comments on each scenario in turn, using open-ended questions and ensuring all participants had the opportunity to contribute their perspective.
5: Voting	Participants vote whether the scenario is acceptable or not. (undecided was also permitted)
6: Repeat	Processes 2 to 5 are repeated in turn for each scenario.
7: Break	Facilitator counts votes.
8: Discussion	Results of votes presented and discussed. Each scenario without clear majority is discussed in turn.
9: Voting	Second round of voting if no clear majority in first round of voting.
10: Conclusion	Results of vote. Facilitator explains future plans and thanks participants.