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Definition and role of the designated PPI (Patient and Public Involvement) lead in a research team

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Published: 18 December 2019

Version: 1.2 - October 2020

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PPI Lead

There should be a named person with appropriate skills and experience who is responsible for leading the PPI element within the project. The role of the PPI lead can be undertaken by any of the co-applicants within the research team (or a named member of the team), who has the relevant skills, experience and authority to be accountable, represent, manage and embed patient and public involvement in all aspects of the research study/programme. This role should be a budgeted and resourced research team member.

A PPI lead, the member of the research team responsible for managing and coordinating the PPI, may undertake some or all of the following activities;

  • Developing and shaping the PPI plans with public contributors
  • Setting and refining overall PPI strategy as the project progresses
  • Liaising and planning with research team regarding PPI activities throughout research project lifecycle
  • Acting as a single point of contact for all public contributors involved in the research
  • Recruiting public contributors and working with them to develop support and training needs
  • Providing appropriate induction and training to public contributors as well as ongoing mentoring and support
  • Ensuring that involvement is aligned to UK Standards for Public Involvement
  • Communicating to public contributors the project status, providing feedback on PPI activities and their impact
  • Planning and organising the logistics (including access and support needs) for all project related meetings
  • Synthesising results and conclusions of PPI activities and feeding back to researchers
  • Developing and implementing appropriate evaluation, monitoring and reporting of PPI e.g. using a PPI impact log or GRIPP2 guidance
  • Writing up PPI sections with public contributors for project reports