Patient involvement and engagement in the AHSC
We believe that patient experience must be central to the planning, development and delivery of health research and NHS services.
Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) takes place across our Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC) to ensure our activities are robustly informed by patient and public insights and responsive to their needs.
We harness patient and public expertise across the partnership to align initiatives and share best practice, including:
- Dedicated UCLPartners and NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) PPIE teams
- Co-Production Collective at UCL
- Queen Mary University of London Centre for Public Engagement (Gold Watermark)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Public Engagement
- Patient and public groups and representatives, attached to each of the AHSC partners
Our overarching and uniting aims are to:
- engage under-represented groups and individuals
- find new mechanisms for engagement
- provide comprehensive guidance to our members (e.g. training, toolkits, and 1:1 support).
UCLPartners PPIE Committee
The UCLPartners PPIE Committee brings together PPIE leads from across the six functions within the UCLPartners academic health science partnership, together with patient partners, to:
- identify and maximise opportunities for beneficial collaboration in PPIE activities
- share insights and learning
- ensure strategic alignment of PPIE approach and opportunities.
The overall objective is to collectively ensure that research, service design, higher education and innovation across the partnership are robustly informed by patient and public insights and responsive to patients’ needs. The Committee meets quarterly and reports into the AHSC Executive Group.
Our PPIE teams and projects
Examples of our patient and public involvement and engagement work include:
NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre
- Public and patient advisory group (PPAG), founded in 2011
- PPIE at NIHR Barts BRC is supported by the Barts Health Research Engagement and Diffusion team. They work with researchers, healthcare professionals, patients and the public to build stronger partnerships in research development, delivery and sharing of research findings; they also facilitate greater levels of engagement, participation and involvement in research. The BRC is also supported by the Centre for Public Engagement, QMUL, who work to embed public engagement within the university by providing advice and support, reward and recognition, and funding for engagement activities.
- Over the years PPAG members have helped with ‘Let’s talk hearts’ (free heart talks for the general public) and Barts and Queen Mary Science Festival (festival aimed primarily at secondary school children interested in a career in science and medicine) as well as many other activities.
- Despite the complications of the pandemic, members have been more active than ever, providing feedback on grant applications and speaking virtually to BSci students about their experiences. Many members are also members of the Barts COVID PPIE group and through this and work of Trials Connect have sought to promote understanding of vaccine research.
- Listen (from 18 mins): David Collier, the Deputy Director of NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre on different trials for COVID-19, and finding new and existing treatments on BBC Radio 4 Inside Health.
- For more information please visit the NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre PPIE website and also find out more information on the following areas:
NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre
- The patient and public engagement team provides PPIE support and advice for Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology researchers, including offering PPIE training.
- Patient and public groups include:
- PPIE Research Community: A group of volunteers who help the Biomedical Research Centre with patient and public engagement across a range of clinical research areas.
- BRC PPI Advisors: A group of patients/public and carers who are involved in specific areas of strategy/governance/projects in the Biomedical Research Centre.
- For more information please visit the NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre PPIE website
NIHR GOSH Biomedical Research Centre
- Involving and engaging patients and members of the public is essential to the research carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) and the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH).
- Groups and activities include:
- Young Persons’ Advisory Group for research (YPAG), which meets six times a year
- Parent and Carer Advisory Group (runs four times a year)
- Engagement sessions in the hospital, such as marking Rare Disease Day and International Clinical Trials Day
- The PPIE team supports researchers in their work by offering:
- One-to-one support and advice on ensuring that patients and the public are involved in their research at all stages and for planning and running their involvement sessions
- One-to-one advice for researchers on the PPIE sections of their funding applications
- Running regular training sessions, and signposting researchers to PPIE training held at the NHIR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre
- For more information please visit the GOSH Biomedical Research Centre PPIE webpage
NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre
- Provides PPIE support and advice for UCLH and the UCL researchers. Runs workshops throughout the academic year for researchers looking to improve their PPI skills.
- Patient and public groups include:
- PPI Patient Network: These are individuals who volunteer who help the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) support researchers by getting involved in their research projects.
- Covid PPI Advisors: A group of patients/public that has been set up and have played a key role in turning around PPI work on COVID projects at a fast pace.
- PPI Data Network: A group of patients/ public working on PPI projects addressing issues around the the use of NHS patient data in research.
- For more information please visit the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre website
UCL Public Engagement Team (Part of UCL Culture)
- The PE team support researchers within UCL who want to engage patients and the public with their work. They offer:
- Funding for public engagement projects
- Networking, including the health focused Community of Engagers which offers monthly information and can be joined by emailing publicengagement@ucl.ac.uk.
- Training
- Reward and Recognition
- Support and Advice
- You can sign up to the Public Engagement Newsletter to learn more.
- The team is part of UCL Culture, who have a wide variety of expertise including Community Engaged Learning, the Co-Production Collective, UCL East London engagement, UCL Museums, The Bloomsbury Theatre and Public Art.
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Public Engagement team
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is committed to continually working to embed patient and public involvement and engagement throughout the research cycle, across the research we do and within the local and global communities where we conduct our research. The Public Engagement team supports LSHTM staff and doctoral students through:
- One-to-one support and advice on public engagement and patient involvement projects.
- Funding through an annual Small Grants Scheme.
- Dedicated resource guides and project case studies accessible via the staff/student intranet.
- One-to-one advice on preparing applications for external funding.
- Internal training and signposting to external training.
- Themed peer support sessions delivered as part of the LSHTM Public Engagement Network.
More information
- We will be regularly updating this page with more information about patient and public engagement activity across the AHSC.
- If you are a patient, carer or member of the public who would like to get involved, or if you work in research or healthcare and would like our support, please contact the UCLPartners Patient Insight and Involvement team on PPIE@uclpartners.com