The Health Research Authority (HRA) and the devolved governments provide a Research Ethics Service so that research proposals relating to their areas of responsibility can be reviewed by a Research Ethics Committee (REC).
RECs protect the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing of research participants. Managing the RECs in England is one of the HRA’s core functions.
We have a duty to provide an efficient and robust ethics review service that maximises UK competitiveness for health research and maximises the return from investment in the UK, while protecting participants and researchers.
We have a dual mission to protect the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing of research participants and to facilitate and promote ethical research that is of potential benefit to participants, science and society.
The Research Ethics Service consists of:
- Research Ethics Committees (RECs) across the UK reviewing health and social care research
- volunteer members and chairs that sit on NHS and health and social care RECs
- staff
The UK Research Ethics Committee Policy Document describes what is expected from RECs when reviewing research proposals.