A list of previous and current AskFuse project is still under development. Please have a look at our case studies for typical examples of AskFuse enquiries. Below is a summary of enquiries received between June 2013 and June 2014.

General overview of enquiries

Between June 2013 and June 2014, AskFuse received 85 requests. Figures 1-4 provide an overview of the characteristics of the enquiries received so far by sector, location, type and subject of enquiry.

Figure 1. AskFuse enquiries by sector, June 2013-June 2014 (n=85)

Almost, a third of the enquiries (29%) are raised by Public Health teams in Local Authorities, while 18 per cent are submitted by academic partners. It is encouraging to see that AskFuse provides a two way service by supporting both practitioners in their research needs and academics in accessing practice ideas and support. Many enquiries are also received from third sector organisations (20%), which support public health interventions in their communities. More recently, enquiries have started to come in from staff working in the NHS (9%) and Clinical Commissioning Groups (7%), which will provide important links to clinical networks (Figure 1).

Figure 2. AskFuse enquiries by area, June 2013-June 2014 (n=85))

Three quarters of the enquiries originate from the North East of England, with the remainder from the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, Greater London and the South West. AskFuse has even received enquiries from Turkey and India (Figure 2). Enquiries are reasonably spread over the different areas in the North East with the former Teesside primary care trust (PCT) area, particularly the Public Health teams in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils, being the most active users of AskFuse (24%).

Figure 3. AskFuse enquiries type of enquiry, June 2013-June 2014 (n=85)

The majority of enquiries fall within three categories: rapid evaluation of services or projects (29%), support/advice on developing an intervention or research proposal (16%) and signposting to relevant reviews, studies and academics (15%).

Figure 4. AskFuse enquiries subject of enquiry, June 2013-June 2014 (n=85)

Lifestyles and behaviour are a popular subject of enquiry, applied physical activity, and food and nutrition (28%) followed by enquiries about particular health diseases and conditions (24%), such as neurological diseases and cancer. However, many enquiries broach different subject areas and cannot be easily categorised.