Involving patients in research

Patient and Public involvement (PPI) is the involvement of the public within the NHS. The NHS Constitution states that members of the public have the right to be informed of and have access to clinical research studies. 99% of NHS organisations conduct clinical research and the individuals that work within those Trusts are obliged to ensure that this occurs. PPI also known as Lay Representative can provide researchers with vital life experience perspectives. If they or a member of their family have a certain condition which requires specific interventional treatment, they will be able to advise what will be off-putting to patients and therefore, what may affect recruitment to a trial.

They can also review your documents, such as the Plain English Summary or Patient Information Sheet for example. If they have knowledge of a condition but still find the content difficult to digest, then others will too.

Patient Advisory Groups (PAGs) are also a great resource for a researcher, as they will have a practical perspective of what clinical need or gaps currently exist for the local population.