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		NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF)

Patient and public involvement

The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility is committed to active public involvement in all stages of research and public involvement is one of the criteria on which research proposals received into the NIHR CCF are assessed.

When talking about 'the public', we mean:

• People who use health and social care services
• Informal carers and families
• Members of the public who may be targeted by public health programmes
• Organisations representing the users of NHS services and community groups.

Patient and Public involvement (PPI) means that people are active partners in the research process by, for example, advising on a research project, assisting in the design of a project, or in carrying out the research, rather than being the 'subjects' of research.

Read more about NIHR Patient & Public Awareness

What is peer review?

Peer review is a way of checking the importance and appropriateness of research proposals. It is also sometimes referred to as refereeing. The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility asks a range of experts to provide written opinions about research proposals that have been submitted for funding. These may include members of the public (lay review), clinicians, academics, health economists, policymakers, health professionals, researchers and statisticians.

Information for patients and the public

Read more about what is involved in being a lay reviewer or lay member for NIHR CCF.

Register your interest in getting involved in the commissioning or lay review process for the NIHR programmes.

Resources for NIHR CCF lay reviewers and lay panel/committee members.

Information for researchers

Additional PPI information for researchers submitting proposals to NIHR CCF.