C&I CRIS Research Database ethics application
Research type
Research Database
IRAS ID
264983
Contact name
David Osborn
Contact email
Research summary
C&I Research Database
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0210
Date of REC Opinion
8 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion
Data collection arrangements
Information from C&I NHS clinical records will be fed automatically, via a system to remove all information that might identify an individual, into an anonymised research database.
The database will be available to approved researchers within C&I and its partner research organisations for population-based (epidemiological) research of specific projects approved by a service user co-chaired Oversight Committee. For example, a research project could be looking for links between family history and particular illnesses or effectiveness of specific medications in different patient groups. With the data being anonymised, the researchers won't know who any patient is, so patients will not be approached for their permission though they can opt out if they don’t wish for their data to be used for research.Research programme
(1) It will support epidemiological research in psychiatry/mental health within C&I and its partner research organisations (University College London). This type of research includes looking at the causes and consequences of diseases, response to treatment, and so on, based on anonymised information from many patients. (2) The system will enable better clinical audit and NHS service development. It will also allow clinicians access to advanced techniques for extracting information from free text data (such as finding which of their patients are on a certain medication, when that information is only stored in electronic letters and not in a more structured way).
Research database title
C&I Research Database
Establishment organisation
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
Establishment organisation address
St Pancras Hospital
4 St Pancras Way
London
NW1 0PE