Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) is embedded across The Open University (OU) in our research, teaching and learning, knowledge exchange, impact and Open Societal Challenges activities. We define PPIE as activities that are carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public (‘public contributors’).

On this page are a set of resources to help support PPIE activities for both public contributors and for OU members of staff. The resources have been co-produced with public contributors and staff from across the University. We would especially like to thank the PPIE Task and Finish Group and the University ethics team, contracts team, payroll team and information rights team.

Being a public contributor at The Open University

Guidance for public contributors is currently being developed.

Paying public contributors

Guidance on paying public contributors (internal link only) involved in Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) activities at the OU. The guidance includes information on determining employment status, payment rates, tax and benefits implications and examples of common PPIE activities at the OU.

Public contributor acknowledgement form

For public contributors employed on a consultancy contract where personal information (anonymous or identifiable) will be published and/or where personal information will be kept after the PPIE activity ends, a public contributor acknowledgment form (internal link only) will be required.

For public contributors acting as volunteers this information will be covered in the PPIE Information Sheet and Consent form which can be found on the OU's Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) PPIE page.

External expense claim form for PPIE

For public contributors who are volunteers, the PPIE expense claim form (Word, 41 KB) should be completed and returned to the project lead so the expenses can be authorised before being passed to Finance for payment.

Public contributors who have a consultancy contract will have their expenses managed and paid through the OU staffing systems and so will not need to complete this form (but will still need to submit receipts to the project lead for authorisation).

Ethical guidance for PPIE

Guidance on ethical principles supporting PPIE and guidelines to help you understand if you need HREC review for your patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) activity.

Privacy notice for PPIE

View a privacy notice for members of the public who are contributing to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement activities at The Open University. The privacy notice sets out the ways in which the University gathers, uses, stores and shares your data.

Insurance

For research projects being undertaken by OU students and/or staff, the University holds liability cover (internal link only) with U.M. Association Ltd (UMAL).

Distress protocol guidance for PPIE

Our Distress protocol guidance for PPIE (internal link only) provides project leads with advice on what to consider before, during and after organising and an activity or event involving public contributors.

Public involvement and engagement training

The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research has collated a list of Public Involvement and Engagement Training resources comprising live, online and recorded training opportunities from several organisations, including The Open University, which are open to researchers from all institutions.