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Research governance: social care.

  • Last modified date:
    19 December 2007

About the development and implementation of the Plan for the Research Governance Framework in Social Care, published in May 2004.

Implementation plan

The Department of Health's research governance framework for health and social care (RGF) sets out standards of good practice in the conduct of research.

The DH Research Governance Framework is designed to cover both the NHS and social care. In recognition of the differences between the two contexts, however, a separate Implementation Plan for the Research Governance Framework in Social Care was published in May 2004. This was informed by an extensive process of consultation with all major stakeholders, including service users and carers.

The plan sets out actions to be taken by the key agents involved in implementing the RGF: the Department of Health (section two), the research funder (section three), the research sponsor (section four), the care organisation (section five) and the research provider and research employer (section six). Section seven provides a summary of the main milestones for implementation, with proposed dates for their achievement.

Baseline surveys

The Plan was also informed by an initial 'baseline survey' of Councils with Social Services Responsibilities (CSSRs), which examined how far they were developing appropriate systems to support good governance in research. This was undertaken in the autumn 2002 and a report of the survey is available below:

A follow up survey of local Councils' progress in implementing the RGF was undertaken in 2005. This shows that progress has been extremely good, with the majority indicating that they have established, or plan soon to establish, the basic systems for research governance. The full report and a letter from Kathryn Hudson, the DH Director of Social Care, commending local Councils on this achievement can be found below.

The second national survey of local Councils with Social Services Responsibilities, published in June 2006,  reveals that the majority have established basic systems for the governance of social care research. We commend Councils on their excellent progress and stresses the importance of high level support for the process.

Ethics Review

One of the main challenges for the implementation of the RGF in social care is the lack of a national system of ethics review, comparable to that in the NHS. In the summer of 2004 the DH undertook further public consultation on a number of key options for ethics review. A summary report of the outcome of this consultation, and the full report itself, are available below.

A working group was then set up to propose how to act on the findings of the consultation. Details about the outcome of this work, including the working group’s report and the Department’s response are available below.

Resource Pack

A Resource Pack has been produced to assist implementation, in conjunction with the Social Services Research Group (SSRG) and the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS). This is available on the SSRG website.

Governance start-up grant

A grant is available to local CSSRs to assist with the formation of local governance alliances. Details of this grant and an application form are available below, and can also be found in the resource pack (see above).

Newsletter of the Modernisation of Adult Social Care (MASC) Research Initiative, commissioned by the Policy Research Programme

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