Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 104
5.48. Where an ethical opinion is a statutory requirement, it is illegal to conduct the
research unless in accordance with the ethical opinion. Where there is no
statutory obligation the research sponsor may ignore the ethical opinion but
there are risks in doing so, such as significant reputational damage and possible
litigation, if something were to go wrong.
5.49. In the UK, Health Research Authority (HRA) is an NHS body
which operates Research Ethics Committees (RECs). A list of REC is available
at Search Research Ethics Committee Directory - Health Research Authority.
This is supported by NHS in (England), the Health and Social Care in Northern
Ireland (HSC), the Chief Scientist Office in Scotland (CSO) and Health and Care
Research Wales (HCRW). or by the universities, although there are a number
of independent committees including those of the Health and Safety Executive
and the Ministry of Defence 81.
5.50. The Health Research Authority 82 was established on 1 January 2015 in
accordance with provisions of the Care Act 2014 as an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department of Health.
5.51. UK Research and Innovation can be also a source of guidance for ethics 83.
5.52. A policy document, Governance Arrangements for Research Ethics Committees
(GAfREC) 84 describes the principles, requirements and standards for research
ethics
committees
including
their
remit,
composition,
functions, management and accountability. Application to all NHS research
ethics committees is via the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) 85.
5.53. Research ethics committees in the university sector, whilst operating to broadly
the same principles as those within the NHS, do not have any central standards
and may vary considerably in both process and robustness of ethical review.
The Economic and Social Research Council’s Framework for Research Ethics 86 is
one of a number of resources suggesting principles, requirements and
standards that are broadly compatible with those in GAfREC. Where
independent ethical review by a university committee is appropriate, and this
may also be a university requirement for indemnity, then researchers are
advised to refer to the local university website for their specific arrangements.
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