College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences

It is now recognised that high quality health research requires a partnership between those conducting the research and those who the research will benefit - such as patients, carers, and the general public. Many funders, including charities and NIHR, recognise and support this. Indeed, high quality research can be rejected by funders due to a lack of meaningful, embedded Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE).

PPIE brings a perspective to the research that researchers lack, whether that is living with a condition, accessing health care or living with the consequences of health system configurations.  

PPIE is crucial at all stages of the research journey, thinking about the initial topic area, developing meaningful research questions, supporting researchers in the study design, data collection, interpretation of results and dissemination of findings in a way that is accessible and meaningful to patients and the public.

Our vision for MVLS is an embedded support system for patient and public involvement that will facilitate the development of links between researchers, patients and public, with appropriate support and remuneration to ensure that collaborations have the time to grow and work together to develop research applications with robust and meaningful outcomes.

Our work is diverse and wide-ranging across research fields, from evaluation research and clinical trials, to basic science and the use of big data.

We provide PPIE support to grant applications and funded studies. Our advice, including developing PPIE plans and costings, have been applied in a variety of clinical settings.

We involve patients and the wider public as co-applicants on research projects and as members of project advisory or steering groups to enable research to have a meaningful societal impact across a diverse range of communities.  We have found ground-breaking ways to assist researchers deliver PPIE activities, including

• recruitment to PPIE groups
• induction days for new groups
• training and support for staff and students

Currently, MVLS PPIE supports health care research and researchers in areas such as rehabilitation, Long Covid, homelessness, artificial intelligence and other areas of health service delivery.

Since the MVLS PPIE team was established in May 2018, it has had great success in establishing PPIe activities across and supporting MVLS grant applications to meet the goals and priorities of society. 

We aim to involve public and patients in MVLS research by providing support to shape research priorities, study design and dissemination.  We address these issues in a respectful and meaningful way to ensure that patients voices are embedded in grant applications.

We work in partnership with third sector, patient and community groups to bring a innovative approach to the translation of innovation and research into clinical practice. And to ensure research is communicated in a way that is readily understood and useful to patients, carers and the wider community.

Our main drivers for PPIE are to support the wide range of benefits for health care and also to support the National Standards for PPIE required by grant funders.

We aim to work with colleagues from across MVLS,  and we welcome your suggestion and feedback.

We are actively involved in bespoke seminars and workshops in the area of PPIE.

University and NHS staff and students may also choose to look at our MVLS PPIE Support web pages.

If you would like to find out more about our advice and support service, please contact us.