Two people, one depicting an elderly lady, sitting

PPI and SUAG for Yorkshire

I have a strong interest in PPI which flows from my working life and practice as a Social Worker and advocate for the service-users voice which motivated me to get involved in PERFECTED and I was happy to lead the SUAG for Yorkshire.

One of the roles I took on was to train a PPI member in interviewing. I carried out an interview with them which was a very positive experience. The impact of their involvement in the interviews has been valued. I built up a trusting and respectful working relationship with the PPI member from ‘my’ SUAG. This enabled an open discourse between us during challenges posed by the project.

Having one central responsible person coordinating the PPI for the project has worked well, he kept track of both the procedural and personal issues encountered through the process.

Although there have been cumbersome processes with regards to co-researching with PPI in the NHS (due to having to obtain permissions to work with the public) we did our best to work within these constraints and to make the burden as low as possible for the PPI representatives.

There was flexibility in approached as the project progressed as to how and when PPI could impact on the research and changes to protocols arising from PIS involvement were always documented.

Anna Varley Senior researcher at UEA and PPI lead for SUAG Yorkshire