What we can offer

We are able to offer a service to researchers, primarily at the planning/design stage of a research grant application. This is in the form of commenting on research proposals and draft information aimed at patients/the public from the perspective of members of the public generally.

The group can give its views on areas including research topic importance, consent issues and the participant experience. In many cases, particularly for research involving recruitment of patients, we will also recommend involvement of local service users with experience of the relevant healthcare area, if this has not been addressed already. This will help ensure that the research is more relevant and acceptable to people who should benefit from the research.

For these reasons, we prioritise work that is at an early stage of development, to allow time for meaningful integration of our feedback into the research proposal. A lead time of at least 6 weeks from request submission should be allowed for feedback to be collated from PCPIE members, summarised and returned to researchers.

In some cases we may be able to offer ongoing support for a research proposal that goes on to be funded, in the form of ongoing document reviews and general guidance on public involvement. In a smaller number of cases one of the group may offer to sit on the trial steering panel if required, although please note our resources are very limited in this area and this level of support cannot be guaranteed.

If you would like to request support from the PCPIE Group please complete the application form below, and return to the email address stated in the form.

We do ask that you allow as much time as possible before your funding application submission date, and ask you to bear in mind the 6 week turnaround time outlined above.