Title |
Bureaucracy stifles medical research in Britain: a tale of three trials
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Published in |
BMC Medical Research Methodology, August 2012
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DOI | 10.1186/1471-2288-12-122 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Helen Snooks, Hayley Hutchings, Anne Seagrove, Sarah Stewart-Brown, John Williams, Ian Russell |
Abstract |
Recent developments aiming to standardise and streamline processes of gaining the necessary approvals to carry out research in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK), have resulted in lengthy and costly delays. The national UK governmental Department of Health's Research Governance Framework (RGF) for Health and Social Care requires that appropriate checks be conducted before research involving human participants, their organs, tissues or data can commence in the NHS. As a result, medical research has been subjected to increased regulation and governance, with the requirement for approvals from numerous regulatory and monitoring bodies. In addition, the processes and outcomes of the attribution of costs in NHS research have caused additional difficulties for researchers. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate, through three trial case studies, the difficulties encountered during the set-up and recruitment phases of these trials, related to gaining the necessary ethical and governance approvals and applying for NHS costs to undertake and deliver the research. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 4 | 57% |
United States | 2 | 29% |
India | 1 | 14% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 4 | 57% |
Scientists | 3 | 43% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 2 | 2% |
Peru | 1 | 1% |
Gambia | 1 | 1% |
Canada | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 87 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 18 | 20% |
Researcher | 17 | 18% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 6 | 7% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 5 | 5% |
Other | 14 | 15% |
Unknown | 21 | 23% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 25 | 27% |
Social Sciences | 10 | 11% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 9 | 10% |
Psychology | 7 | 8% |
Arts and Humanities | 3 | 3% |
Other | 13 | 14% |
Unknown | 25 | 27% |