Abstract

An electronically managed survey of NHS Research and Development (R & D) managers was conducted in 2005-2006 by the NHS RD Forum Service User and Carer Working Group. The study aimed to identify the location for the responsibilities, and the levels of public, service user, and carer involvement in the annual workload of Research and Development Offices in England. The study also aimed to identify the current trends underlying the context of public and service user involvement in research and determine initial findings that could be utilised for comparison in further studies. The questions posed by the study were: • that public and service user involvement in research is an increasing part of the current context of health service research, and, • that public involvement in research is supported by resources as part of the research management and governance responsibility. The study had a response rate of 24% (n=76) from the total number of R & D offices in England (315). From the responses, it was clear that aspects of Government guidance and policy, relating to the involvement of the public, service users and carers in NHS health services planning, administration, participation in and dissemination of NHS health and social care services, were being implemented. This survey provides an indication of the levels of involvement of the public and service users in research. It pointed to an inverse relationship between the level of dedicated resources and the actual support for public involvement activity. Those research managers who supported the highest levels of activity generally had fewer dedicated resources.

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