In December 2025, the National Institute for Health Care and Research (NIHR) issued new payment guidance for researchers and others who involve people with lived experience in research as a public contributor, such as a member of a research advisory group or a reviewer. The guidance states that rates are for organisations to use at their own discretion.
This new guidance suggests an increase in payment for patient and public involvement (PPI) by 10% (from £25 per hour to £27.50 per hour). The uplift came into effect on 16 December 2025, with the expectation that organisations with NIHR-funded research projects should also increase their PPI payment rates although additional resources would not be made available to them to do so.
Lived-experience expertise shapes every aspect of the work we do at McPin. In 2025, we collaborated with over 20 advisory groups whose members helped to make our research more accessible and relevant. We follow best practice guidance so have taken this 10% suggested increase from the NIHR as a prompt to review our payment rates.
At McPin, we are in the process of reviewing our existing project budgets, with project partners, to ensure we can commit to this suggested increase rate.
McPin will:
- build this new rate of £27.50 per hour into all new projects that involve public contributors as advisory group members, not just NIHR-funded projects, effective immediately.
- ensure that all our in-progress projects that work with advisory groups and extend beyond March 2026, regardless of who they are funded by, move to the increased rate of £27.50 per hour if agreed by the project sponsor and funder.
- Retain some flexibility in payment rates for other lived experience work
- Communicate with members as soon as we have information about when the change will occur in their group
We aim to create meaningful and appropriately reimbursed opportunities for people with lived experience, with lived experience involvement roles sometimes extending beyond advisory group participation. As such, we have different payment rates for specific tasks.
We always advertise payment rates clearly in our adverts and welcome feedback.
