Patient and Public Involvement in Research

Our Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Team support researchers to ensure high quality and meaningful PPI is embedded throughout their research project.

If you’re a researcher looking to involve patients and the public in your work, our PPIE Team can provide advice and support. This might include how to identify and approach people that have lived experience of the condition being researched, for example from your clinical work or support groups you are aware of.

If you are unable to find patients with lived experience, our PPIE Team co-ordinate the Patient and Public Research Advisory Group (PPRAG), which is made up of over 80 public contributors who have lived experience of a variety of conditions and an interest in improving health research.

Depending on your experience, requirements, available funding and timings, we can:

• Offer bespoke PPI advice and support at a 1:1 advice session. To book an advice session please email research.ppi@uhcw.nhs.uk.
• Suggest other relevant resources which you might need for your PPI.
• Arrange a meeting with members of an existing PPI Group, where you can present your research idea and seek the advice of the patients, carers and members of the public attending.
• Arrange for your lay summary or patient facing study documents to be reviewed by members of an existing PPI Group.
• Offer advice and support about how to identify and recruit people with lived experience of a certain condition or service to become PPI contributors and/or co-applicants.
• Review the PPI section of your grant application.

We can support researchers, their research team and public contributors to understand the importance of, and their role in, PPI at our Introduction to PPI Workshop. Express your interest in attending a workshop here.

Funders typically request a named lead to be identified on grant applications who has responsibility for leading on PPI and other work with people and communities. They are often referred to as the ‘PPIE Lead’.

The PPIE Team do not routinely lead on PPI for individual research studies. However, they may be able to support the named PPIE Lead during the study. This is subject to prior agreement with the PPIE Team and funding, but might include activities such as:

• Advising or supporting advertising, set-up and management of PPI Groups
• Providing PPI training for PPI contributors and/or research team
• Supporting PPI meetings and other PPI activities, including processing PPI contributor payments