Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.

Research governance

  • Last modified date:
    21 October 2008

All research commissioned by the Department of Health is subject to the Research Governance Framework (RGF) for health and social care (2001, updated 2005).

Implementation plan and framework for social care research

The general principles of the Research Governance Framework apply to both health and social care, however a separate implementation plan has been produced for social care to address its distinct context and challenges.

Surveys of local councils with social services responsibilities (CSSRs)

National surveys of CSSRs show that considerable progress was made on implementation of the RGF between 2002 and 2006.

RGF resource pack

A RGF resource pack has been produced, in association with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Social Services Research Group, to support the development of local governance systems.

Research register for social care

A central research register for social care has been established, in collaboration with the Social Care Institute for Excellence, to collect information on research being undertaken in or by local councils.

Social care ethics review

The Department undertook a formal consultation on social care ethics review in 2005 and has subsequently established a stakeholder planning group to advise on how to take the findings of this consultation forward. This group will be reporting shortly.

Research capacity

Collaborative work to develop research capacity in social care is also underway. This began with a national ‘expert seminar’ in the autumn of 2005, one of the main recommendations of this seminar was for a wider public consultation. This was undertaken by the Social Care Institute for Excellence in the summer of 2006. A cross-national funders’ group has subsequently been established to consider ways of working together to develop capacity in the social care research field.

Additional links

Adult social care statistics

Comprehensive statistics related to adult social care are produced and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Access keys