Patient and public involvement in priority setting: should we listen to the will of the people?

Decision makers tasked with allocating resources within health systems can face huge pressure about funding decisions from patients and the public. The aim of this project is to provide a detailed philosophical analysis of how far decision makers ought to respond to attempts by patient and public interest groups to influence priority-setting decisions.

Dr Rumbold will use an ‘empirical ethics’ approach, combining both philosophical analysis and qualitative research. two-fold: to give an ethical analysis of the moral obligations of priority setters to respond to lobbying by patients and the public on healthcare resources allocation; to give concrete, practical advice to decision makers on how they should respond to lobbying in future.