The Council has adopted new procedures around research into adults and children’s social care. These procedures accord with the Department of Health’s Research Governance Framework (RGF) for Health and Social Care.
If you are thinking about doing any such research then you’ll need to follow the procedures. Full details are in an application pack which you can find on the right.
The definition of research under the procedures is broad, encompassing audits, surveys and consultations as well as activities which would traditionally be labelled “research”. It doesn’t however cover information which is collected as a matter of routine e.g. individual reviews of service users or the collection of management and performance information. The Fact Sheet in the application pack sets out in detail what is covered.
Should the research you want to do come within the ambit of the procedures, you’ll need to complete an application form for submission to the “RGF Coordinator” (Joseph Yow for Adults, Peter Wilson for Children’s). Depending on the complexity of the proposal and the level of risk to participants, approval will either be fast-tracked (5 working days) or referred to the RGF Approval Panel (10 working days).
Once approval is given, you can start. Your research will be logged on the Council’s Research Register for Social Care and will be monitored by the Coordinator or another nominated person.
If you are planning research, including anything which wouldn’t need approval through this process, don’t forget that the Research Group in the Chief Executive’s Department is always happy to advise on the methodology and design of surveys and questionnaires along with other research-related issues.