Living with a health condition
You know from lived experience how a health condition affects everyday life. Your expertise may include seeking a diagnosis, accessing care, managing symptoms and navigating daily demands.
For contributors
Your lived experience can help shape better products, research and services. If you live with a health condition, have used a treatment, or care for or support someone with a condition, you have expertise to contribute.
As a Consultant Patient, you’re paid for your contribution and expertise on agreed projects and programmes.
Formal registration is not open yet, but you can express your interest now. Please don’t include any health details in your first email.
A Consultant Patient® is a person who is currently registered with, and has completed verification by, Consultant Patient Ltd, and who contributes expertise gained through living with a health condition, using a treatment, or caring for or supporting someone with a condition.
Verification confirms identity and age and includes a review of the person’s lived experience with them. Registration with Consultant Patient Ltd is not a statutory or professional registration. Consultant Patients do not give clinical or medical advice in this role.
You know from lived experience how a health condition affects everyday life. Your expertise may include seeking a diagnosis, accessing care, managing symptoms and navigating daily demands.
You use or have used a medicine, device, therapy or other treatment. You bring knowledge of how it fits into daily life, including the practical challenges and decisions involved in starting, continuing or stopping treatment.
You have experience of caring for or supporting someone with a health condition. You bring your own knowledge of navigating services, providing support and managing the demands of a caring role.
You don’t need clinical or research qualifications. Registration as a Consultant Patient does not in itself confer a clinical or professional qualification.
Organisations draw on lived expertise to shape products, research, services, strategies and policies that affect people living with health conditions. You choose whether to accept each invitation, and there is no minimum commitment.
Share your experience and insights in a one-to-one or small-group interview about a defined topic, health condition, care pathway or service.
Join other Consultant Patients to discuss questions, offer advice and give feedback on services, products, materials or ideas.
Work alongside an organisation’s team and other experts in guided sessions to shape priorities, services, care pathways, products, research or policy.
Try digital tools, devices, services and materials. Explain what works, what gets in the way and what needs to change.
Review patient information, study documents and findings for clarity, relevance and how accurately they reflect lived experience. Help interpret findings and explore what they mean in practice.
Contribute at key stages of a longer project or programme. This may combine different activities, with further opportunities, each offered separately, as the work develops.
You’re paid for your contribution and expertise. The proposed work, payment and terms are set out in writing before you decide whether to take part.
Every opportunity is optional. You decide which invitations to accept, based on your interests, experience and circumstances. You’re free to decline, without any consequence.
Each invitation explains the purpose of the work, what you would contribute, the format, time commitment and payment, and how your input will be used.
You contribute as an expert in lived experience, with a clearly defined role and a written brief setting out the scope of your contribution.
We discuss your access needs with you and agree reasonable adjustments to support your participation.
You choose opportunities that fit your availability, with no exclusivity requirement. The schedule and commitments for each project or programme are agreed before you begin.
Five steps, from registering your interest to contributing your expertise. Registration is not open yet, but you can register your interest now.
Email participant@consultantpatient.com with your name and the country you live in. Please don’t include any health details.
When registration opens, we’ll invite you to register. You’ll be able to review the consent form, privacy policy and registration terms before completing registration.
We check your identity and age, and review your lived experience with you to help match you with suitable engagements. You must be aged 18 or over and complete registration and verification with Consultant Patient Ltd to become a Consultant Patient.
When we invite you to an opportunity relevant to your experience, we explain the work, time commitment, payment and how your contribution will be used. You decide whether to take part.
Take part in the agreed work, with informed consent and confidentiality throughout. You’re paid for your contribution and expertise on the agreed terms.
Registration does not guarantee paid opportunities. You choose whether to accept each invitation, and you can stop taking part at any time.
Register your interestRespect for your expertise includes respecting your privacy and your choices. We explain what each opportunity involves and how your information and contributions will be used.
You receive clear information about each project or programme and how your input will be used before deciding whether to take part.
Consultant Patient Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ZC142572). Reports and insight shared with organisations do not identify you unless you explicitly agree otherwise. Your identifiable information is shared with a commissioning organisation only with your explicit consent for that engagement and a signed data sharing agreement.
You can request access to your personal data, corrections or deletion by emailing privacy@consultantpatient.com. Where we use your information based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
Sessions are confidential. You also agree to keep project information confidential during and after your involvement.
As a Consultant Patient, you contribute lived expertise. This role does not involve providing medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Read our privacy policy for more information about how we handle your personal data and your rights.
Read our privacy policyRegistration is not open yet. It will open first to people living in the United Kingdom. We hope to welcome people living elsewhere in Europe in future.
To register your interest and ask about eligibility, email participant@consultantpatient.com with your name and the country you live in. Please don’t include any health details in your first email.
Register your interestYou need to register with and be verified by Consultant Patient Ltd. Registration is not open yet. To register your interest, email participant@consultantpatient.com with your name and the country you live in. Please don’t include any health details in your first email.
Consultant Patient Ltd checks your identity and age, and reviews your lived experience with you to help match you with suitable engagements. You must be aged 18 or over and currently registered with, and have completed verification by, Consultant Patient Ltd to be a Consultant Patient.
No. Every opportunity is optional. You decide whether to accept each invitation, with no minimum number of engagements required. If you choose to take part, the work, time commitment and payment are agreed beforehand.
No. Consultant Patients contribute as experts, not as the people being studied. Consultant Patients may help research teams set priorities, shape questions, co-design studies and review findings, but Consultant Patient Ltd does not recruit people to be studied.
No. Invitations depend on suitable opportunities being available and relevant to your experience. You choose which invitations to accept, and there is no exclusivity requirement. Payment is agreed for each project or programme you join.
No. You’re paid a fee for each engagement you choose to take on. There is no exclusivity, and you’re responsible for your own tax and National Insurance. Opportunities to take part cannot be guaranteed.
Yes. You can stop taking part at any time by emailing participant@consultantpatient.com. To withdraw your consent or object to how we use your information, email privacy@consultantpatient.com. Payment for work you have already completed is honoured as agreed.
Register your interest with Consultant Patient Ltd to explore future opportunities to contribute and be paid for your expertise.
Register your interestPlease don’t include any health details in your first email.
Representing an organisation? Work with Consultant Patients