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Frequently Asked Questions

There are a number of different kinds of projects involving data collection, research, audit, service evaluation, Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives, case notes studies, student thesis, etcetera. All of them require formal authorisation from the Trust before participants can be approached or data collected. See Conducting a Study for more details.

Do you have an idea for a service evaluation or research idea in the early stages? 

The Research Support Service provides help to those preparing research proposals for submission to peer-reviewed funding competitions for applied health or social care research. The advice is provided free of charge and is available through use of online resource and consultations with experts.

As the Trust's research support partner, the team at Noclor can help with your grant application and getting your study set up at ELFT. They will review your draft and identify any areas which need to be amended. Mandatory training is also provided.

If you are new to research in the NHS, or have not set up a project for a while, you may find the thought of getting approvals and setting up your study daunting. The HRA has published information to assist with planning your application for HRA Approval and preparing study documentation

There are a number of training resources available to you providing help completing forms, dealing with ethical issues, and drafting information sheets, etc.

No. In order to carry out research within this Trust, you must also obtain NHS Research Ethics Committee approval and the authorisation of the Trust in which the research will take place. As with all research undertaken within the Trust, a senior member of the Trust is required to take overall responsibility for the proper conduct of the study.

No. All research conducted in the NHS must conform to the requirements of the Department of Health's Research Governance Framework, including work undertaken by students, and there is currently no 'fast track' process for either ethical or NHS Trust approval.

There are, however, certain conditions the Trust applies to all student research projects.

The Health Research Authority (HRA) has some excellent guidance on drafting information sheets and consent forms. These documents should always be amended where necessary to reflect local content at each research site. The local contact in our Trust for raising a complaint is the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

This should also not refer to either the ELFT research office, Noclor, or (in this case) the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Instead, we recommend INVOLVE, a national advisory group, which is funded by and part of the NIHR, supporting greater public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research.

Where ELFT is the sponsor of a study, the contact on behalf of the sponsor for all correspondence relating to applications for this project (IRAS A4), should be the specific Noclor research governance facilitator with whom the study team is working. You should approach Noclor at an early stage (before finalising your IRAS dataset).

Name:
Title:
Address: 1st Floor, Bloomsbury Building
St Pancras Hospital,
4 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PE.


Email: contact.noclor@nhs.net
Phone:
Fax: 020 7685 5788

At question A64-1, the Lead Sponsor's contact person (where ELFT is the sponsor) this should be

Name: Mr Emmanuel Rollings-Kamara
Organisation: East London Foundation Trust
Address: 1st Floor, Bloomsbury Building
St Pancras Hospital,
4 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PE.
Email: sponsor.noclor@nhs.net
Phone: 020 3317 3757
Fax: 020 7685 5788

Regardless of the sponsor, where ELFT is the lead Trust/research site, the details of the lead NHS R&D contact for this research (IRAS A68-1) should also be the specific Noclor research governance facilitator with whom the study team is working. You should approach Noclor at an early stage (before finalising your IRAS dataset).

Name:
Title:
Address: 1st Floor, Bloomsbury Building
St Pancras Hospital
4 St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PE
Email: contact.noclor@nhs.net
Phone:

Studies at ELFT are funded from external sources, such as:

Our research partner Noclor has a finance team, experienced in costing and pricing both commercial and non-commercial research. This team can also draft and review contracts between funding / sponsoring organisations and the research sites.

For further information regarding applying for a research grant, please follow this link.

Would you like to expand your knowledge related to research? Would you like to access Open Athens, research articles or books? Do you require training and support in any of these areas? If so, we have put together a list of resources which are available to ELFT Staff.

Public involvement is defined as research being carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ members of the public rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them. It is an active partnership between patients, carers and members of the public with researchers that influences and shapes research.

When using the term ‘public’ we include patients, potential patients, carers and people who use health and social care services as well as people from specific communities and from organisations that represent people who use services. Also included are people with lived experience of one or more health conditions.

The UK Standards for Public Involvement in Research will help guide you to improve the quality and consistency of the public involvement in your research.

Health and care research should serve the public interest, which means that research sponsors have to demonstrate that their research serves the interests of society as a whole. They do this by following the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research. They also have to have a legal basis for any use of personally-identifiable information. The Health Research Authority and government departments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales set standards for NHS organisations to make sure they protect your privacy and comply with the law when they are involved in research.

No, it doesn't. The Trust’s Health Records Policy states, under the heading of Research and Teaching, that “principles of access and confidentiality remain the same and the right of the patient to refuse access to their records should be respected and documented in their notes” (page 9) and under Information Sharing that “Explicit consent is required if identifiable service user information is used in any publication“ (page 8). This applies to equally to the work of trainees who have to follow the same principles as anyone else on obtaining informed consent.

Scenario 1: For someone working on a specific study

Option 1a: Researcher already employed by another NHS organisation

To gain needed access to ELFT, the candidate completes this NHS to NHS confirmation of pre-engagement checks form with the assistance of the HR team in her employing NHS Trust, and then sends it to Noclor requesting an NHS to NHS letter of access for ELFT.

To gain access to another NHS provider, the ELFT staff member completes this NHS to NHS confirmation of pre-engagement checks form with the assistance of the ELFT People & Culture team and then sends it to the R&D office of the Trust to which she wants access.

Option 1b: Researcher employed by a university, charity, etc.

The candidate completes his Research Passport with the assistance of his substantive employer (details in the Research in the NHS: Human Resource (HR) Good Practice Resource Pack) only once he has completed it, he submits it to the team at Noclor to obtain his “visa” to enter ELFT (i.e., a letter of access).

Scenario 2: The person will be based (full or part-time) with an ELFT team, collaborating across a wide range of studies, for an extended period

The ELFT Placement facilitator/lead/supervisor fully completes a Placement Request Form and sends to elft.placements@nhs.net

The Recruitment Team will assess necessary next steps for that individual (i.e., what checks or references are required) and advise both the applicant and Placement facilitator/lead/supervisor. The remaining process is conducted via ELFT’s on-line recruitment took, Trac. See Placements and Honorary Contracts.

Scenario 1: Pay an ELFT Lived Experience Expert

Follow the Trust’s Service User and Carer Reward and Recognition Policy - Payment by BACS

  • Only applies to current ELFT Service Users and Carers – other individuals (even those with Lived Experience) are paid using scenario 2 or 3.

Contact elft.suc-payments@nhs.net for support.

Scenario 2: To pay an individual directly

The person must be put on the ELFT Bank and paid via payroll so appropriate tax and NI can be deducted at source.

  1. The individual should email elft.join-bank@nhs.net to get registered, if they are not already.
  2. You can the book the individual by completing the on-line booking form.

Contact the Bank team (email above) for support.

Scenario 3: Pay via an invoice from their HMRC-registered business

Set up the business as a supplier and raise a purchase order (PO) for the expected service / contract / invoice. Remember ELFT operates a ‘no PO, no pay’ policy.

Please remember that invoices from an individual (not a company) cannot be accepted at ELFT.

Invoices should be both addressed and mailed to:

East London NHS Foundation Trust
RWK Payables 6765
Phoenix House
Topcliffe Lane
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
WF3 1WE

The invoice is scanned by NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) who process all our invoices, and then it will be sent electronically for approval. Once approved it goes into the payment run. It is taking approx. 5-10 working days for invoices to be scanned and our payment terms are 30 days from the date of the invoice.

For any queries on invoices or payments please contact NHS SBS directly; contact details can be found at https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/contact-us

More information available in the Policy for Subcontracting and Procurement

Scenario 1: For an individual on the ELFT payroll

Follow the Trust’s Expenses Policy and submit an Expenses Claim Form

Scenario 2: For an ELFT Lived Experience Expert

Follow the Trust’s Service User and Carer Reward and Recognition Policy - Payment by BACS

  • Only applies to current ELFT Service Users and Carers – other individuals (even those with Lived Experience) are paid using scenario 1 or 3.

Contact elft.suc-payments@nhs.net for support.

Scenario 3: Expenses incurred by an individual outside ELFT

Submit a Manual Cheque Request using the on-line form.

  • Please read the policy prior to submitting the form.
  • The form cannot be used to pay invoices (see how to submit an invoice) or reimburse staff expenses.

Register attendees using the conference provider’s instructions

Travel and accommodation can be booked via Lightning and charged to the appropriate budget

ELFT staff have access to a statistician through our Noclor partnership with whom study teams can consult to advise them on their work.  To arrange a consultation, please send some details of the study and the help you need to elft.researchoffice@nhs.net 

Access to a machine with statistical software is currently limited to hot-desking at a workstation in the Academic Unit; to arrange a visit when a machine is available, please liaise with the Unit Manager, Carolanne Ellis-Brewer: carolanne.ellis-brewer@nhs.net.