The BMJ is committed to partnering with patients and the public in all aspects of its work. Input from patients routinely informs our thinking and decisions. Our innovative Patient and Public Partnership strategy, adopted in 2014, is designed to promote co-production of our content and aims to help advance the global debate on patient and public involvement in healthcare and health research.
We seek to air debate, and spread learning globally on best practice on how clinicians, researchers, policy makers and medical educators work in partnership with patients and the public, in different contexts, to improve health, promote well being, and make health services more person centred. Our strategy was co-produced with our International Patient and Public Advisory Panel and continues to be steered by them.
How the strategy promotes co-production of editorial content
RESEARCH: Authors submitting research papers are required
to complete a statement documenting if and how they involved patients and the public in their work. Papers are also sent for review by patients and public reviewers, as well as to peer reviewers.
EDUCATION: Authors of articles for the journal's education section are requested to co-produce their papers with patients and their linked communities.
COMMENT: Patients are invited to write viewpoints and their input is sought in scholarly comment and debate. We also publish two patient led series What your patient is thinking and BMJ Opinion Patient Perspectives. Patient perspectives are published on bmj.com in the Opinion section
BMJ OPINION: Patient and public partnership can be achieved in different ways and in different settings. Keep up to date with illustrative examples of co-produced change in clinical practice, education, research and policy in our Partnership in Practice series. Find out more information about the series and also how you can contribute.
Patient and Public Partnership across the BMJ Company
The BMJ supports the Patients Included campaign and we have adopted its requirements for the conferences we run and co run.
Patients are members of the judging panels for the BMJ Awards.
Elements of the BMJ's patient and public strategy are being taken up incrementally by the company's portfolio of specialist journals.
Patient Editors on staff are fully integrated into the BMJ's editorial teams and members of the International Patient and Public Advisory Panel sit on the journal's editorial board.
How patients and the public can get involved
We have an open invitation to patients, carers, and patient advocates to join our database of patient and public reviewers willing to comment on papers.
We also welcome submissions for the BMJ Opinion Patient Perspective series and ideas for other content. These should be sent to the BMJ Patient Editor team.
Terms and conditions of our work with patients
Listen to BMJ podcasts about Patient and Public Partnership