Box 1 Summary of PPI staff tasks

A team of research and professional services experts is required to manage:

(1) initial recruitment of PPI lay members; providing opportunities to all members to ensure equal chances of involvement;

(2) Collection and registration of PPI preferences for engagement, including how they want to be paid for their work (e.g., vouchers or more formal contracts);

(3) Track record of involvement of different PPI lay members in a range of studies to monitor workload and avoid overburdening;

(4) Provision of relevant training;

(5) Reimbursement of PPI time, including set up and management of procedures to do so;

(6) Ongoing contact with PPI lay members, including feedback (e.g., on successful or unsuccessful funding bids; successful or unsuccessful candidates for studentships and early career research roles) to ensure that relationships are maintained for future studies;

(7) Coordination of lay involvement in research studies once funded;

(8) Organisation of meetings or regular catch-ups with the research and wider team at all stages in the research cycle; and

(9) Ongoing recruitment to the lay team to keep up with natural turnover and ensuring PPI members’ diversity