Hospitals should be at the heart of Britain's world-beating partnership with patients in research.

The Royal College of Physicians Future Hospital Commission report and recommendations highlighted the importance of clinical research to its definition of the hospital of tomorrow. But why should hospitals put research at the centre of what they do and how can they make it happen in practice? This opinion piece sets out a vision of a 'research hospital' from a patient and public perspective. It argues that patients will increasingly value those hospitals that: visibly focus on research to improve quality of care and treatment; actively enable their patients to contribute to this endeavour; and help to make the results of this research more accessible to its public.