The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has recently announced a strategic review of public involvement in research entitled ‘Breaking Boundaries: thinking differently about public involvement in research’.

Patients and the public, researchers and clinicians, the NIHR and other research organisations are being asked to contribute their views with a particular focus on the innovations and new approaches that will help the NIHR break new ground plus the barriers and challenges to be overcome in this important area. The ‘Breaking Boundaries’ strategic review is being steered by a panel of service users, researchers, clinicians and staff from across the NIHR and the wider research community, chaired by Simon Denegri, Chair of INVOLVE and National Director for Public Participation and Engagement in Research.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, FRS, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health, said: “This is going to be an incredibly important piece of work. NIHR has a great track record of involving the patients, carers and the public in our research. In fact, this partnership has been critical to our success as a research funder. But we want to build on this success and get closer to our goal of public involvement in research being the rule and not the exception.”

Go to the National Institute for Health website where you can read more about the review and the terms of reference, as well as submit your views via an online survey, through downloading and completing a Word document or submitting an audio or video file. The deadline for responding to the survey is midday on 26 June 2014. www.nihr.ac.uk/awareness/Pages/StrategicReviewofPublicInvolvement.aspx