NHS England has joined the Health Research Authority (HRA) and a host of other leading organisations in a pledge to improve public involvement in health and social care research.
The health body, which runs the National Health Service in England, has signed up to the Shared Commitment to public involvement on the one-year anniversary of when the joint initiative was launched.
The Shared Commitment aims to drive up standards by improving the quality of public involvement across the health and research sector.
NHS England joins 16 leading health and research organisations including, Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health Care Research and the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority.
Dr Matt Westmore, HRA Chief ExecutiveIt’s great to have NHS England joining our Shared Commitment to Public Involvement on our one-year anniversary.
This sends a very strong message to the health and research sector that public involvement in the design and delivery of research is essential and must be taken seriously.
We launched Shared Commitment last year with other leading organisations to raise the profile, value and importance of public involvement in health and social care research.
The evidence is that better research results from involvement, and better research delivers benefits for patients
Matt Whitty, Director for Innovation, Research and Life Sciences at NHS England,Increasing public involvement in research is key to developing a health and care system that meets the needs of all.
From today, NHS England has signed up to the Shared Commitment to involving patients and the public in research. By involving people in research we give them a strong voice in transforming their healthcare, helping shape a future that meets patients’ needs.
The Shared Commitment was developed in partnership with the HRA, leading health and social care organisations and members of the public and was launched in March 2022.
It builds on work led by the HRA in response to the reduction in public involvement seen in studies submitted for approval at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Shared Commitment, which is partially funded by the Department of Health and Social Care Recovery, Resilience and Growth (RRG) programme, includes a joint pledge to help improve the quality of public involvement, which each organisation signs up to.
Public involvement refers to all the ways in which the research community works together with people including, patients, carers, advocates, service users, and members of the community.
Excellent public involvement is inclusive, values all contributions, ensures people have a meaningful say in what happens and influences outcomes, as set out in the UK Standards for Public Involvement.
Evidence shows that excellent public involvement improves the quality and impact of research.
The NHS depends on research to enable transformational improvements in healthcare and, fundamentally, to improving lives. As demonstrated during the pandemic, breakthroughs enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis, more effective treatments, prevention of ill health, and better outcomes. During 2021/22 over 1 million people in England chose to take part in research.
Embedding Public Involvement in Health and Social Care Research
The statement, signed by leaders at each organisation, reads:
'Public involvement is important, expected and possible in all types of health and social care research.
Together our organisations and members fund, support and regulate health and social care research. This statement is our joint commitment to improve the extent and quality of public involvement across the sector so that it is consistently excellent.
People have the right to be involved in all health and social care research. Excellent public involvement is an essential part of health and social care research and has been shown to improve its quality and impact. People’s lived experiences should be a key driver for health and social care research.
When we talk about public involvement, we mean all the ways in which the research community works together with people including patients, carers, advocates, service users, and members of the community.
Excellent public involvement is inclusive, values all contributions, ensures people have a meaningful say in what happens and influences outcomes, as set out in the UK Standards for Public Involvement.
Working together we will support the research community to carry out excellent public involvement. We will provide or share guidance, policies, systems, and incentives.
We will:
- listen to and learn from the people and communities we involve and apply and share that learning
- build and share the evidence of how to involve the public and the impact this has
- support improvements in equality, diversity, and inclusion in public involvement
- promote the UK Standards for Public Involvement
We will embed this commitment into the decision-making processes of our organisations.'
Organisations who have signed the Shared Commitment include:
The Academy of Medical Sciences
The Association of Medical Research Charities
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
Health and Care Research Wales
Health and Social Care Northern Ireland
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement
National Institute for Health Research
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria
Join the Shared Commitment
Organisations from across the health and social care research sector are invited to join our Shared Commitment. Find out how your organisations can get involved.