Patients' roles and rights in research

摘要

Patient and public involvement in research is becoming a mainstream activity thanks to recognition by everyone in the research process from funders and regulators to conference organisers and publishers that it helps them do a better job. There is certainly a strong case for increasing the value to patients and the public from the billions spent on biomedical research. The exponential rise in research output has been accompanied by a decline in quality and mounting concern about high levels of waste, bias, inefficiency, and error. A collaborative effort is needed to reform the research enterprise, and patients and the public have a leading part to play.