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 **************************************************