Health Research Authority (HRA) Approval or NHS Permission

Health Research Authority Approval is the process for research in the NHS in England.

It comprises a review by an NHS Research Ethics Committee (REC) (where required) as well as an assessment of regulatory compliance, and study-wide research governance checks undertaken by dedicated HRA staff.

It replaces the need for research governance review by the Clinical Research Network, or each participating NHS organisation. This allows the participating NHS organisations to focus their resources on assessing, arranging and confirming their capacity and capability to deliver the study.

HRA Approval applies only to the NHS in England. The HRA has compatibility arrangements in place with the national NHS permissions coordinating functions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales that mean that the HRA will share information with those national coordinating functions to benefit study set-up in participating NHS/HSC organisations across the UK where applicable.

If your study involves recruitment of NHS patients, staff, premises, resources (pharmacy, radiology or laboratories) or data/tissue you will need to have HRA Approval in place.

Additionally you will need to work with the OUH R&D Team to confirm local capacity and capability to carry out your project at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.