Patient & Public Awareness
Involving patients and members of the public leads to research that meets their needs, is more reliable and more likely to be put into practice.
We want patients and the public to be involved in all stages of research. This covers:
- Setting research priorities
- Helping to decide what the research is setting out to achieve
- Choosing the methods used to carry out the research
- Recruiting people into research studies
- Understanding what the research findings mean for patients and how it can be applied in the health service
- Publicising the results
Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health, speaking at the health research summit hosted by the Prime Minister on 28 June 2008, stated that every patient in the NHS should have the right to take part in approved medical research that is appropriate for them, and set out the measures that will be introduced to deliver this commitment. The Government's commitment to research is in the NHS Constitution. Read more
The NHS Choices website also has a new feature designed to give patients and members of the public information about health research and assist with new ways to help eligible patients who wish to take part in research to do so swiftly and easily.
We have put structures in place that will help people take part in all the stages of NHS research. Examples are:
- the successful National Cancer Research Network where patients are included in plans for all the research carried out
- the funding of INVOLVE which promotes active public participation in NHS, public health and social care research to improve the way that research is prioritised, commissioned, undertaken, communicated and used.
Together with our partners we will provide information about health research and development in a way that can be understood by patients and the public and will encourage people to help us understand the issues that are vitally important to health research.
A website, People in Research, helps members of the public make contact with organisations that want to actively involve them in clinical research. The heart of the website is a searchable database of information about organisations or groups that look for members of the public to get actively involved in their work. It has been developed by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration and INVOLVE.
Healthtalkonline, is an award-winning website of the DIPEx charity, helps members of the public share in other people's experiences of health and illness. Visitors can watch or listen to videos of the interviews, read about people's experiences and find reliable information about conditions, treatment choices and support.
The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) is committed to active patient and public involvement in all stages of research. The CCF recruit members of the public to help in the commissioning and reviewing of NIHR research proposals. Further information is available from NIHR CCF.