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		NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF)

Patient and public involvement: lay review and lay membership

The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility values the experience of patients and the public needed to broaden the range of knowledge and insight of our commissioning panels and committees. We always welcome public interest in how to become a lay reviewer to help to assess NIHR-CCF research proposals. We also invite public involvement within our commissioning panels and regional committees by including experienced lay reviewers as members.

What is involved for the lay reviewer?

Lay reviewers and members are expected to comment on the proposed research from the point of view of acceptability tothe patient. Advice and guidance is provided to volunteers. Lay and peer reviewers are assigned proposals to comment on but do not attend meetings. The additional lay and peer commentary submitted in advance of meetings helps to inform the commissioning process.

What is involved for the lay panel or committee member?

In addition to the lay review role outlined above, we recruit two or three members of the public to each commissioning group (panel or committee). These lay members join the 15-20 clinical and academic experts from variousmedical disciplines, research institutes and public health bodies whose role is to assess designated grant applications for excellence in the quality of the research to be funded and clinical relevance to the NHS.

Lay panel and committee members look at a designated number of research proposals before attending their panel or committee meeting so that they can help bring a public and/or patient perspective to the discussions and commissioning decisions.

Before each meeting, panel members are provided with a document which contains all the applications to be considered. All panel members – including the lay members – are expected to read lay summaries of the applications which outline the proposed research. During the meeting each application will be discussed by the committee and members are expected to give their opinion of the applications based on their expertise and the advice of independent experts (i.e. the peer and lay reviewers).

Will I be paid?

The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility is able to arrange reimbursement for the time and effort involved in commenting on proposals (lay reviewers) and attendance at, and preparation for a panel or committee meetings (lay members), provided the person is not in receipt of a full time salary from public funds. The NIHR Central Commissioning Facility can also reimburse travel, subsistence, childcare and carer costs where incurred. It is important to know that these reimbursements are subject to National Insurance and tax, and, where a lay reviewer or lay member is in receipt of state benefits and/or allowances, it is important to be aware that such benefits can be affected if payment is made, and to seek advice from the relevant advisory body or consumer organisation.

How can I get involved?

If you would like to register your interest in getting involved in the commissioning or review process for NIHR-CCF programmes please follow this link.

National advisory group - INVOLVE

INVOLVE promotes and supports public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research and development. It is an NIHR programme. Further details can be found on the INVOLVE website at www.invo.org.uk.