Research governance describes a set of standards for the management of research that will:
- Improve and maintain the scientific quality of research
- Promote standards of good practice in the conduct of research
- Ensure that all research undertaken in the Trust is ethical
- Reduce adverse incidents during research projects
- Prevent poor performance and misconduct during research
It is based on the Framework for Research Governance in Health and Social Care. It applies to all types of research undertaken at RWT, both by Trust staff and by external researchers working under honorary contracts for the organisation.
The standards are:
- Trust management of research
- Ethics
- Quality of research
- Conduct of research
- Health and safety
- Project and financial management
- Management of intellectual property
- Training in research skills
- Consumer involvement in research design and planning
- Information and dissemination of research results
The Trust aims to ensure ALL research is performed to the standards of the EU Directive for clinical trials and ICH-GCP (good clinical practice).
Research governance is implemented through the following mechanisms:
- Trust Peer Review Committee approval
- Research Ethics Committee approval
- R&D/ Trust approval
- Quality Assurance training/assessments,
- Auditing research