Steve’s experience as a PPI representative on the BEST4 Screening Trial procurement panel

Hello, my name is Steve. I have been involved in Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) for five years, supporting various projects including the BEST4 Screening Trial. My involvement has mainly been through reviewing documents and communications during video calls, as well as attending a few face-to-face meetings. 

BEST4 is a screening trial with very ambitious recruitment targets of around 200,000 participants. Since recruitment had been slower than expected after launch, it was decided to appoint an external agency to help improve the reach of the project and boost recruitment. I was invited by the Queen Mary University of London BEST4 team to join the interview panel as a PPI representative to help appoint a consulting firm.

My role was to provide an independent review from a public perspective, focusing on the proposed content and approach rather than the financial or commercial aspects of the contract. Although I have experience of assessing bids in my professional life, I was conscious that my questions needed to reflect the views and priorities of the general public.

The process began with the invitation and, a few days before the interviews, I received the brief along with a very helpful score sheet. The interviews themselves were held over a busy day, during which we heard presentations from four candidates. Each was given an hour for their presentation and questions. The score sheet was filled out after each presentation. We, the team, then reconvened at the end of the day to discuss our thoughts and scores. We met a final time a couple of days later to meet with the University procurement team. 

During the interviews, I was interested in how each candidate would engage with the public, especially people from diverse communities. I wanted to know how well they had interpreted the brief and whether they had any lived experience to draw upon. Their responses were quite varied, which was unsurprising given the mix of candidates, ranging from large corporate organisations to small independent consultancies.

"I felt like a valued member

of the BEST4 team"



I was given the opportunity to question each candidate and felt like a valued member of the BEST4 team. There was plenty of opportunity to ask questions, although I didn’t want to be overly interrogating and wanted to ensure questions were focused and constructive. I provided scores for each candidate and was happy to discuss their merits. My scores were given equal weight alongside those of the study team members. 

It was a very interesting and inspiring experience that required little preparation. I was pleased to support the project from a PPI perspective and contribute to the bigger picture.