Dear Richard and members of the group

Can I recommend that any queries from any University research support staff
in relation to regulatory or governance issues affecting research with the
NHS be directed to the UKCRC Regulatory and Governance Advice Service. This
service has been established to provide authoritative advice on these issues
and is freely available to all working in university research support
offices. For further details and to submit a query please see
www.ukcrc-rgadvice.org. 

The advice service can provide advice on detailed queries relating to
honorary research contracts and the Research Passport system in the NHS.

To avoid any confusion amongst those reading this query I can clarify that
the initial statement about who needs an honorary research contract in the
quote below is inaccurate. Information about when honorary research
contracts are required is provided in "Research in the NHS - Human Resources
(HR) Good Practice Resource Pack" available at
http://www.nihr.ac.uk/systems/Pages/systems_research_passports.aspx. 

Regards

Janet

Dr Janet Messer
Deputy Director
NHS R&D Forum
 
Tel: 01570 421172
Email: [log in to unmask] 
 
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion forum for research ethics and governance
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of R.J.Hudson
Sent: 31 March 2009 15:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Query - NHS honorary contracts - Are they required for University
staff who access patients, tissue etc. second-hand and who undertake the
research in non-NHS premises?

Dear colleagues,

I have received a research governance query from a researcher, which
concerns a potentially 'grey' area, and would welcome your perspectives as I
am myself unclear [I'm happy to collate & circulate the replies I receive
and can anonymous the responses, unless a respondent wishes to be
identified].

best wishes,
Richard

The query is as follows - quote from the researcher:
"The question I have relates to University staff holding NHS honorary
contracts. I attended a talk on research governance at which it was stated
that anyone who undertakes research which involves patients, their tissue
samples or data requires an NHS honorary contract.

However, I am not clear whether or not a University member of staff requires
an NHS honorary contract if s/he is collecting the human tissue from an
individual who has an NHS honorary contract and is undertaking the research
within a University laboratory.
Does the governance cross over from NHS to University as the human tissue
crosses over from NHS to University and, therefore, negates the need for the
University member of staff to hold an NHS honorary contract?

**************************************************
     Richard Hudson
     Quality Assurance Manager (Team Leader)
     Quality and Governance Team
     Business Operations
     Research and Innovation Services, Academic Services
     The University of Sheffield
     New Spring House
     231 Glossop Road
     Sheffield
     S10 2GW
     Tel: 0114 2221448
     Fax: 0114 2221452
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