Public Health Research Ethics Committee

Our Public Health Research Ethics Committee has been established to review public health research which falls outside of NHS and university ethics review processes, with a particular remit in reviewing research being developed by local authorities.

Although the ethics review is an optional process, it is aimed at enhancing ethical acceptability in the design, conduct, and reporting of the research. This will help support internal governance processes within host organisations and provide assurance to journals when submitting manuscripts that an independent ethics review of the work has been conducted. 

The committee has been established to provide expertise specifically on the ethics of public health research, with representation from public health consultants based in both academia and local authorities, along with ethicists, members of NHS and University Research Ethics Committees, and public contributors with strong community research links. 

The process has been designed to facilitate research within local authorities, providing a timely review and outcome. The committee will meet on a monthly basis to review applications, with the aim of providing feedback within two weeks of the meeting taking place. We are hoping to help upskill researchers to consider ethics throughout their research, with the provision of constructive feedback and an overall ethics opinion of the work.