A message from Patient and Public Involvement Lead at Bowel & Cancer Research, Lesley Booth, regarding the People and Research Together Programme:
“At B&CR the health, wellbeing and safety of our people as well as our friends and supporters is paramount. As the situation continues to develop, I thought it important to write to you and offer our reassurance that we are working to minimise the risks from Coronavirus.
In the coming weeks it is inevitable that some PPI activity will be affected. We are aware that everyone is very worried about Coronavirus. The situation we face is unprecedented and is developing very quickly. We are continuing to monitor Government advice carefully.
What this means for our PPI work is that there will be no face to face meetings or focus groups. Where PPI is required we will look at alternative ways of involving you such as by teleconferencing or video conferencing. If researchers need support with surveys, questionnaires or reading over research plans and patient information sheets, I will let you know as per normal.
However, many researchers have now postponed their research projects due to the Coronavirus.
We are also aware that many of you will be worried about your own health risks and we have put together some useful resources for you:
Advice for cancer patients can be found if you follow this link:
linkedin.com/pulse/updated-advice-cancer-patients-concerned-covid-19-c-the-signs
Advice for people with Crohns or Colitis:
crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19-advice
Advice for helping your wellbeing:
mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/
I would like to thank you for all your support this year to-date, and I look forward to continuing to work with you in these challenging times. I hope you find the above links useful.
I hope you all keep safe and well.
Lesley Booth – Director of Research and PPIE
