The Centre for Trials Research Public Involvement and Engagement Hub is a team including members of the public and researchers. This provides a central focus and oversight of our commitment to involve members of the public and patients in research, as well as encourage engagement and dissemination of all study results as clearly, widely and transparently as possible.

Importance of engagement

The Centre for Trials Research champions public involvement and engagement across the full range of its studies and within its organisational structure. We support the objective of involvement, where research is carried out with or by members of the public.

We promote the objective of engagement as a two-way process of interaction to share the activity and benefits of university-based research with the public. Involvement and engagement will produce more relevant research that is of greater benefit to the public and patients.

Oversight and coordination of work

We created a Public Involvement and Engagement Hub in the Centre to help coordinate and have oversight for the work we undertake in partnership with the public.

The Centre is home to a large number of studies and staff, four divisions and several professional and academic teams. Therefore, it can be difficult to know what is happening in other parts of the Centre and sometimes how to get advice on matters such as public involvement.

The Hub allows us to take a Centre wide approach to working with the public, to raise its profile, to share great ideas and to support innovation.

Shaping policy and ensuring quality

The Hub is a group of research partners and members of Centre staff who meet every two months. They are here to advise on relevant policy and practice. This has included shaping the Centre’s own Policy for Involvement and Engagement and also our five-year targets as a Centre.

The Hub are here to support high quality implementation for public involvement and engagement. This may involve developing materials for members of the public working with the Centre, such as induction packs or standardised processes, for example when claiming expenses.

Highlighting role of public in research

The Hub will monitor what is happening across the Centre when working with the public and it will be responsive to queries from staff and research partners alike. Anyone in the Centre can attend Hub meetings or submit queries to them.

Research partners from the Hub are also active in supporting other activities in the Centre, for example as members of our College Strategic Board and by attending monthly meetings where the Centre adopts new work onto its research portfolio.

We are keen to highlight the role the public have played in supporting Centre research. This includes case studies from research projects and reflections from research partners in our regular public facing reports and on our website.

National standards

The work of the Hub complements other Centre, local and national approaches to working with the public. Researchers in the Centre will have a range of connections and models of working with the public – a diversity and creativity which the Hub aims to facilitate.

The National Standards for public involvement are enshrined in our Centre Policy and in the Hub’s own terms of reference. The Hub acts to support the implementation of the standards across the Centre’s portfolio of work.

Developing research partners

The Hub is on a journey rather than at its destination. It aims to further develop the community of research partners with the Centre. Its ambition is the same as that of the Centre, to support high quality publicly informed research that will produce real benefits for patients and the public in Wales and beyond.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about our work with the public, please contact us:

Directorial lead for involvement and engagement

Lay Representatives

Academic Lead for Public Involvement and Engagement

Centre for Trials Research Division Directors