Approval process

Core documents

A number of core documents must be completed during the approvals process, which will vary depending on the type of research being performed. Answering the filter questions| will generate a list of the appropriate documents for the study. The list also contains a brief description of each form and a link (where possible) to the download.

Local authorisations

In accordance with R&D research governance requirements, departmental authorisation signatures must be obtained from all departments involved where their involvement is over and above routine standard care. The departments can also assess whether there is sufficient resource and capacity to conduct the study.

Where UHS is not the lead site, the local R&D offices are obliged to check that radiation dose exposures, administration of radioactive substances, and medical devices, meet the relevant Trust standards.

This is achieved by Local Authorisation signatures on the NRES Site Specific Information Form (SSIF).  Please contact the research governance officer in R&D who covers your clinical division for advice on the current local signatories.   

Research governance officer contacts for UHS divisions

Division	Specialities	Divisional research governance officer
A	Cancer, critical care, surgery	Sharon Atwill (023) 8079 5078 sharon.atwill@uhs.nhs.uk|
B	Dermatology, emergency care, ophthalmology, nutrition, respiratory, geriatrics, radiology, pathology, ENT	Hope Howard (023) 8079 4862 hope.howard@uhs.nhs.uk|
C and D	Women and children, occupational health, cardiovascular and thoracic, neurosciences, trauma and orthopaedics	Danny Pratt (023) 8079 4901 danny.pratt@uhs.nhs.uk|
	Commercial Research Projects	Claire Backhouse (023) 8079 4901 claire.backhouse@uhs.nhs.uk|

Ethics opinion

The National Research Ethics Service was formed in April 2007 combining the Central Office of Research Ethics Committees (COREC) and Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in England. The purpose of NRES is to protect the the rights, safety, dignity and well-being of research participants, while facilitating and promoting ethical research. It ensures that all research meets rigorous ethical criteria.

The Ethics application is made via the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) form, a web-based research application system and replaces many of the existing application forms by capturing the information researchers need to submit into a single data set.

More information can be found on the IRAS website|.