University of Lincoln are now a participating organisation in the East Midlands Sharebank. The East Midlands Sharebank is a cross-organisational learning and development network focusing on patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care research. Being part of the network will give organisations like the University of Lincoln the opportunity to:
- Share their know-how and experiences with a wider audience.
- Access other organisations’ know-how and experiences.
- Widen the pool of PPI training courses their staff and patients/public members can access.
- Be part of a novel initiative that is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) programme, INVOLVE.
The University of Lincoln alongside other members of the Sharebank will share a common purpose in improving health and social care research by developing individual and organisational skills in PPI through gathering and sharing knowledge and experience of PPI amongst staff, patients and members of the public. The Sharebank network will build a community of interest in the East Midlands that advocates for learning and development for PPI in research.
The East Midlands Sharebank was developed and run as a pilot initiative in 2015/16 by its founding coordinators, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR East Midlands Research Design Service, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and INVOLVE. Following success of the pilot, the University of Lincoln were invited by the founding coordinators of the Sharebank to attend and input into development meetings that would help to fully establish the network in the East Midlands. This was followed by an invitation for the University to formally apply to join the Sharebank network. The application from the University of Lincoln was led by Dr Arwel Jones (Lincoln Institute for Health) who will now act as key point of contact (PPI Lead) at the University for the Sharebank network. Dr Jones will be joined by Lucy Picksley (School of Health and Social Care) and a public representative to attend Sharebank advisory group meetings.
As a member of the Sharebank network, the University of Lincoln will support and contribute to the activities of the Sharebank as well as take advantage of contributions from other members of the Sharebank network. The Sharebank shall act as a vehicle for members to collectively agree and create a suite of resources and programme of training and other learning events that will be open to all individual members (staff and public) associated with the University of Lincoln.