About PRIMER

• We are a group of patients, carers and other people who mostly live in Greater Manchester.
• We are diverse in age, gender, ethnic backgrounds, family responsibilities and educational attainment levels.
• We have recent experience with primary care health services ranging from GPs, clinical teams, reception staff, community pharmacists and dental practices to high street opticians. Some of us also have chronic and/or multiple health issues.
• Many of us have held an advocacy role for a relative and offer a carer’s perspective.
• We are keen that the wider communities in Manchester are encouraged to take an interest in research, so we support researchers in communicating their projects in a clear way (plain language).
• We are not researchers or currently employed as health practitioners, but we have a real interest and commitment to both health and research, having been involved in a wide range of projects since 2008.

“I have enjoyed working with researchers on a variety of projects from acute kidney injury to work related stress through to big data studies. As a group of interested public contributors, we are an effective resource for researchers.”
Angela Ruddock

Our work

Since 2008 PRIMER has worked in partnership with academics from all over the UK, providing unique insight and service user expertise during the development of a wide range of research projects.

The PRIMER @ 10 Celebration book features testimonials from researchers and PRIMER group participants, showcasing the achievements of the group. To request a digital copy of the book, please contact the PRIMER Coordinator: peter.bower@manchester.ac.uk.

Who we are

PRIMER consists of:

Joining PRIMER

If you are interested in joining PRIMER, find out more on our information for patients and the public page. 

“PRIMER is one of the best organised groups I’ve seen. At my first meeting, everyone was so welcoming and friendly. As I sat around the table, I could not distinguish the researchers from patient and public contributors. Everyone is respected for their contributions and expertise – regardless of professional or personal background.”
Simon Stones / PRIMER member