Following a career in the Probation Service, I was appointed as a member of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) subgroup in 2008. The group’s task was to support the development of PPI within the UKCRC and with its partners. My experience there included steering group membership of PPI related research projects and the development of strategy.

A record of the development of PPI and lessons learned were subsequently published by UKCRC in 2009. I remain a PPI member of the UKCRC Board and contribute a PPI perspective to the Senior Investigators programme. This year I contributed to the User Controlled research report and film and the service users’ “Count us In” workshop and report. I also acted as one of the PPI representatives on the Health Service Research and INVOLVE Commissioning Board.

Throughout my career I have had a particular interest in promoting user and public involvement in the governance of public services and research, in the belief that such involvement helps ensure both their relevance and their transparency.