The Health Research Authority (HRA) are an arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which means the Government has devolved some of its responsibilities to the HRA.
Their vision is for high-quality health and social care research that improves people’s health and wellbeing, and their core purpose is to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public in health and social care research.
To achieve this the HRA:
- makes sure that research is ethically reviewed and approved
- promotes transparency in research
- oversees a range of committees and services
- coordinates and standardise research regulatory practice and
- provides independent recommendations on the processing of identifiable patient information where it is not always practical to obtain consent, for research and non-research projects.
Making a research application to the HRA
Before you begin an application for your research there are a number of planning and preparation activities you need to complete.
See the Planning and Improving Research pages of the HRA website (opens in a new tab) for best practice, legal frameworks and other resources to support your research.
Find out more
You can find out more about on the HRA website (opens in a new tab), through their monthly newsletter HRA Latest (opens in a new tab) and via social media (opens in a new tab).