Join the Network

As a member of the Network, you’ll draw on your lived experience to share your views and opinions with researchers who are working to find new treatments to help people with cardiovascular diseases.

What happens when you join

You’ll be offered opportunities to take part in friendly meetings (online and in person) with researchers and other people with experience of these conditions. Activities will include advising on patient-facing information, research design, and patient priorities.

You’ll be invited to attend meetings which are most relevant to your experience, as they will focus either on vascular or cardiac conditions. There will also be opportunities to review documents and send your feedback by email. It’s up to you how many opportunities you get involved in.

However, certain activities may have limited spaces or specific requirements (for example, requiring input from people with a particular condition or from a specific age group) so we can’t guarantee you’ll be able to take part in all opportunities shared. We’ll make sure that Network members get an opportunity to take part in at least one activity.

Who we’re looking for:

We’re looking for people from a range of different backgrounds who have direct experience of, or care for someone, affected by:

Vascular conditions

• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

• Peripheral Arterial Disease (including Amputees and patients with Diabetic foot ulceration)

• Varicose Veins

• Carotid Artery Disease

• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

• Aortic Dissection

Cardiac conditions

• Coronary Artery Disease

• Arrhythmia

• Heart Failure

• Heart Valve Disease

• Cardiomyopathy and Inherited Cardiac Conditions

• Congenital Heart Disease

• Stroke

• Vascular Dementia

Please note, people from South Asian communities are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. People living in areas with higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and lower survival rates. If you identify as part of these groups, it’s important that your views are taken into account and we’d love to hear from you.

We pay everyone who takes part in our activities in line with national guidelines. You’ll be offered an honorarium payment of £25 per hour for meetings and we’ll cover reasonable travel expenses within Greater Manchester.

How to get involved

If you’re interested in getting involved in the Network, please contact Susannah via email (Susannah.williams@mft.nhs.uk).

We’re committed to ensuring that people from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds and with different experiences have a say in research. We aim to make our opportunities as inclusive and accessible as possible. If there is anything that we can do to enable you to take part, please let us know.