Research governance
Our Research Governance team support and advise researchers to meet the requirements of the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research as well as other relevant standards, policies and legislation.
We're also required to report to the National Institute of Health and Care Research on how we are performing in terms of setting up and recruiting to studies. See our performance data here.
In order to improve the quality of information given to people who are invited to take part in research, the HRA have introduced Participant Information Quality Standards and Design and Review Principles which all studies must adhere to from 1 December 2023.
All researchers should familiarise themselves with the guidance available online:
and
As part of the Participant Information Quality Standards, sponsors are encouraged to provide template formats for Participant information sheets. SPFT have produced the following templates which can be adapted for use in SPFT sponsored studies.
We use personally-identifiable information to conduct research to improve health, care and services. As a publicly-funded organisation, we have to ensure that it's in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information from people who have agreed to take part in research.
This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, we will use your data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the research study. Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate.
If you withdraw from the study, we'll keep the information about you that we have already obtained. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible.
Health and care research should serve the public interest, which means that we have to demonstrate that our research serves the interests of society as a whole. We do this by following the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research.
If you have a complaint about how we've handled your personal data, you can contact our data protection officer who will investigate this for you. If you're not satisfied with our response or believe we're processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Contact our Data Protection Team: information.
All studies need to be reviewed by the Pre-Sponsorship Review Panel (PSRP) if they are developed by one of the following organisations:
- University of Sussex
- University of Brighton
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The PSRP will provide feedback and advice to researchers to meet the quality and safety criteria expected by sponsoring organisations.
The panel will make recommendations of each application for sponsorship to the sponsoring organisation.
For more information about the PSRP submission and review process see this link or contact psrp
Sussex Partnership's Sponsorship Committee meet every six weeks to review and approve recommendations for sponsorship, and to monitor active, sponsored research projects.
Please download our Research Protocol Template here