We are delighted to congratulate our PhD student, Gill Lever, on receiving the Best PPIE Embedded Within a Project Award at the NIHR SafetyNet PhD Event 2026, which took place on 21 April 2026.

This award recognises outstanding practice in Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) and highlights the importance of partnership, equity, and lived experience in high-quality research. It is a well-deserved recognition of work that places collaboration and inclusion at its core.

Gill Lever is a PhD student at The University of Manchester funded by the NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC, working within our Preventing Suicide and Self-Harm research theme. The award was given in recognition of her PhD research, “Social workers’ implementation of national guidelines with looked-after children who self-harm.” The project explores how national guidance is interpreted and applied in practice, with a particular focus on the experiences of looked-after children and the professionals who support them.

Celebrating the award, Gill said:

“Winning the award for best PPIE embedded within a project is incredibly significant to me because my work on social workers’ implementation of the NICE guidelines on self‑harm with children in care has always been rooted in partnership and equity.

 

People with lived experience of being in care, self‑harm, and frontline social work have shaped every stage of the project. Their insight has ensured that real‑life challenges are reflected, strengthened ethical decision‑making, and helped make the findings accessible and relevant to a wide audience.

 

Embedding PPIE meaningfully has been possible because of the communities and colleagues who have supported and challenged me. Guidance from a trauma‑informed expert enabled me to prioritise psychological safety. Serving on the Diversity Working Group of the NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC, led by the brilliant Louise Gorman, helped me to integrate equity impact assessments as a core principle and consider how I can mitigate barriers to involvement and engagement to amplify reach and inclusion.

 

Public Contributor, Dan Stears has been a huge source of inspiration, encouraging me to recognise the value of my own positionality and how it strengthens my work. Centring lived experience is essential to creating work that genuinely improves outcomes for the people who need it most.”

Gill Lever’s PPIE work

The NIHR SafetyNet PhD Networking Event is an annual event organised by SafetyNet – the NIHR PSRC Network, which brings together NIHR-funded PhD students working on patient safety and their supervisors for a day of networking. The 2026 event was hosted by the NIHR Midlands PSRC at the University of Birmingham.

At the event, Gill Lever also presented her work. Greater Manchester PSRC was represented by a second presentation from Yuan Tian, our funded PhD student working within our Improving Medication Safety research theme, who presented her research on decluttering primary care in England to improve patient safety.

The GM PSRC team at the NIHR SafetyNet PhD event 2026. From the left to the right, Jessica Hackney (PhD student), Bowen Yang (PhD student), Gill Lever (PhD student), Paul Garvey (PhD student), Dr Jennifer Creese (supervisor), Dr Richard Keers (Academic Career Development Lead), Yuan Tian (Phd Student) and Saher Nawaz (PhD student)

Related

[related-posts-thumbnails]