Patient and Public

Be Part of Research

Members of the public and patients can get involved in research by volunteering to take part.

Sometimes we need volunteers with specific conditions, sometimes we need volunteers who are a certain gender or age, and at other times we need healthy volunteers.

Research depends on willing volunteers. Without volunteers research cannot happen. Every participant makes a difference by helping us to understand more about illnesses and treatments.

The benefits can vary from study to study. There may be no direct benefit to you personally. A study information sheet will be provided to you explaining what the study involves and outlining any potential risks of participation. You will also be able to discuss taking part with a member of the research team and we encourage you to discuss it with friends, family and your healthcare professional.

You do not have to take part. It is your choice. If you do take part, you are free to stop at any time. This will not affect the care that you receive now or in the future. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to consider taking part in research.

The Be part of research website enables you to search for studies recruiting people now, it is easy to use and you can search by condition and only includes ethically approved studies.

If you find a study you are interested in, you can speak to your healthcare professional about it next time you meet with them e.g. GP, consultant, etc. or contact the study team using details on The Be part of research website.

There is no pressure to take part, people can read about studies or even request more information without being asked to commit to anything.

If there is a study you want to take part in, the next step will be for a medical doctor to confirm you meet the criteria for the study. The doctor will then inform you fully about the study, providing a chance to ask any questions and discuss any concerns, and there will be a formal process of giving consent before anything happens.