The Palliative Care Studies Advisory Group was set up in 2009 in order to give advice and guidance to a Department of Health project about ‘Transitions to palliative care for older people in acute hospitals’. The aim in setting up the group was to harness the skills and perspectives of interested members of the public and service users in order to improve the design, implementation, and dissemination of the research.
The Patient Experience Library holds the whole of the UK’s collective intelligence on patient experience and patient/public involvement, with over 40,000 documents from local Healthwatch, national health charities and think tanks, academic institutions and government bodies. It is the essential starting point for researchers asking “what do we already know?”.
Patients understand their disease and lifestyle needs better than many medical professionals. Patients have important research ideas about how best to improve quality of life, manage symptoms, offer existing treatments, or develop new interventions. Often these ideas differ from those prioritised by academia or the pharmaceutical industry.
The Patient Led Research Hub (PLRH) works in partnership with patient organisations to develop and co-produce their own research ideas. We provide academic expertise in all areas of research design and delivery, with the ethos to support any technically feasible research idea. Patients maintain an active, collaborative management role throughout the study, ensuring the project focuses on what’s important to them.
The PLRH was established in May 2015 by patients and members of the Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit from the University of Cambridge, and the Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation trust. PLRH strategy and governance are reviewed by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and the Cambridge University Health Partner’s Patient and Public Involvement Research Oversight Group.
People in Health West of England is a collaborative initiative supporting public involvement in health in our region. Our vision is that in five years’ time patients and the public will be central to health improvement in the West of England. Our work includes:
People in Health West of England is funded by four partner organisations that recognise the importance of working actively with patients, service users, carers, family members and voluntary and community groups. The partner organisations include NHS and other health and social care providers, service commissioners, local authorities, health and social care professionals and researchers. The four main partners are:
People in Health West of England promotes innovative and effective public involvement in research, innovation and service improvement.
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest acute hospitals trusts in the country. We provide a full range of acute secondary care services to a local population of 650,000 people, as well as specialist services to a wider population in excess of 2 million people. We also host the largest of the five Ministry of Defence Hospital Units in the UK. The Trust also has a significant reputation in research, development and innovation.
