Ethical Research

Ethical research within the NHS is of immense benefit to patients and the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) is committed to providing an efficient service to facilitate this, whilst at the same time protecting the safety, dignity and well being of those who participate.

The need for independent review of the ethics of medical research is beyond question and enshrined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Such review has undergone much change over the last 16 years. Beginning with some 200 Research Ethics Committees (RECs) operating entirely autonomously, we have moved through the establishment of the Multi-centre Research Ethics Committee (MREC) system, the introduction of common application process and standard operating procedures for all NHS RECs under the influence of a central office, and now the establishment of the National Research Ethics Service.

All this could not have been achieved without the selfless contribution of hundreds of individuals sitting on these committees and giving freely of their time and expertise. Patients, the public and all involved in health service research owe them a great debt.

These evolutionary changes have brought considerable improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, particularly for large multi-site clinical trials and Research Tissue Banks. Latterly there has also been progress in ensuring greater consistency within the NHS REC system through NRES' training programmes, quality assurance and 'issues and arguments' papers.

There is, however, a need to continue work to improve efficiency and avoid unnecessary delays. This is particularly true of small scale, single site studies, often carried out by undergraduates, and where the ethical dimensions are commonly minimal. There is also a need to bring together the other aspects of research governance with ethical review to reduce the paper chase that confronts aspirant researchers at present.

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