Patient and Public Involvement Officer

Job Purpose

The NIHR Patient and Public and Involvement (PPI) Officer will take the lead on developing and delivering PPI activities for key research led by the NIHR Surgical Reconstruction & Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC, http://www.srmrc.nihr.ac.uk/). The NIHR SRMRC is a research initiative funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) in partnership with the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

The NIHR SRMRC is a national centre for trauma research, taking discoveries from the military frontline to improve outcomes for all patients in the UK. It brings together pioneering advances in surgery and infection by both military and civilian scientists as well as clinicians to deliver excellence in innovation in a complex area of acute care.
Launched in 2011, the centre shares its knowledge gained from treating seriously injured military and civilian patients, with the wider NHS. The NIHR SRMRC has a key ambition to expand and enhance its longstanding commitment to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) to inform the design, delivery and dissemination of future research in this vital field (http://www.srmrc.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/information-for-patients/).

Patient and Public Involvement, Engagement and Public Awareness and Participation are important dimensions of PPI, more broadly termed PPIE to particularly reflect the critical role of “Engagement”. The post holder will lead on all aspects of PPIE including these key dimensions. This requires building and maintaining excellent relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations, third sector organisations, and other stakeholders in the local health and social care economy. More specifically, the NIHR PPI Officer will facilitate and coordinate the following activities:

• To ensure patients and the public have meaningful and rewarding involvement in the work of the local NIHR research infrastructure, as well as other relevant groups such as the Centre for Patient Reported Outcome Research (http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/mds/centres/cpror/index.aspx).
• To facilitate communication, events, collaborations and other activities to promote patient and public engagement, with special emphasis on improving the public understanding of science of applied health research. This will also include creating and maintaining regional PPIE networks and promoting and facilitating the recommendations from the recent NIHR strategic review of PPI in research (Going the Extra Mile), with special emphasis on reaching under represented community groups.
• To support the communication and promote awareness of projects being undertaken by research initiatives in the local health economy to improve patient and public participation to applied health research studies.

You will regularly report PPIE achievements, milestones and impacts, working closely for example, with the NIHR SRMRC Director and Programme Manager as well as other members of the central administration team. You will also interact with other staff involved in patient and public- involvement, engagement and participation activities across both the University and NHS core partners under Birmingham Health Partners (http://www.birminghamhealthpartners.co.uk/) and contribute to activities in the wider community and academic environments where this delivers demonstrable benefit to the local research initiatives/infrastructure.

Person Specification

Main duties:
1. To be the main point of contact and to support NIHR SRMRC researchers as well as external “patient partners” to ensure meaningful and rewarding public involvement in the work of the NIHR SRMRC.
2. To support the formation, coordination and organisation of a Committee of “patient partners” as part of the management/governance structure of the NIHR SRMRC.
3. To assist in the development of training activities related to PPIE – both for researchers and for members of the public working with us – and contribute to the delivery of these activities.
4. To carry out tasks related to administration, writing minutes, planning and conducting mailings, developing systems for monitoring return of information, keeping records of progress, writing letters to organisations, report-writing, data entry, producing communication bulletins/newsletters, carrying out desktop research tasks.
5. To facilitate communication, events, collaborations and other activities to promote patient and public engagement, with special emphasis on improving the public understanding of science.
6. To engage with and contribute to local and regional PPIE networks, and promote and facilitate the recommendations from the recent NIHR strategic review of PPI in research, with special emphasis on reaching under-represented community groups.
7. To build and maintain relationships with diverse groups of patients and carers, patient and carer organisations, third sector organisations, faith organisations, and other stakeholders in military and civilian health in order to realise NIHR SRMRC ambition to have meaningful PPIE that informs research and ultimately healthcare provision
8. To work closely with the Centre for Patient Reported Outcome Research, particularly the Centre Director and trauma-focused Research Fellow, to support the activities of the NIHR SRMRC and wider PPIE developments.
9. To carry out appropriate evaluation activity to identify and track the impact of any changes as a result of PPI.
10. To co-ordinate NIHR SRMRC PPIE-related activities and collaborate with other PPI organisations such as INVOLVE and ‘People in Research’.
11. To contribute to the development of good practice, enhancing patient and public involvement in research studies and engagement activities.
12. To support the communication and promote awareness of projects being undertaken by local research initiatives to improve patient and public participation to studies through the development of webpages and other NIHR SRMRC communication channels.
13. To disseminate information to researchers and ensure benefits of PPIE are published to as wide an audience as possible.
14. To develop and maintain a strong and up-to-date knowledge of developments in PPIE and to disseminate information to members of the various research initiatives as deemed appropriate.
15. Ad-hoc support for any other projects/duties as directed by your line manager - the Strategic Projects Manager with the College of Medical & Dental Sciences’ Research & Knowledge Transfer Office – in collaboration with the NIHR SRMRC Director and the NIHR SRMRC Programme Manager.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Knowledge and understanding of diversity in local communities.
• Understanding of PPIE in health organisations, and some previous relevant experience of engaging/involving publics in the work of organisations.
• Understanding of PPIE in research-active organisations and in applied health research activities and initiatives.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with patients and the public, healthcare professionals and NHS management, academics and researchers.
• Ability to communicate complex information both orally and in writing, both internally to colleagues and externally to a wide range of audiences.
• Ability to support the planning, management and delivery of projects involving multiple agencies and individuals.
• Ability to work independently where required, with limited day-to-day supervision.
• Ability to work as part of a team, in a highly multi-disciplinary environment
• Ability to manage time effectively, prioritise workload and deliver results consistently.
• Ability to prepare and deliver presentations and reports to a high standard.
• Good IT skills, particularly in the use of MS Office and Web applications.
• Impeccable attention to detail.
• Ability and willingness to travel around the West Midlands area and to national meetings as required.
• A degree in relevant health or social science or related subject.
• Experience of supporting project management.
• Experience of working with diverse groups of people.
• Knowledge and direct experience of appropriate governance requirements around working with various publics.
• Enthusiastic and highly motivated, with the ability to influence and inspire others.
• Flexible approach to working and a desire to develop knowledge