Research
Being ‘a centre of excellence for mental health research’ is one of the core objectives in the strategy of East London NHS Foundation Trust. Thus, research activities are not an appendix of service delivery, but a core part of the Trust’s work in their own right.
The main aim of research is to provide evidence that contributes to the world wide evidence base and directly or indirectly – leads to improvements of mental health care. To achieve this aim, research has to be of high quality and receive recognition on an international level. Directly or indirectly, all research in the Trust should be of relevance to and help improve the delivery of mental health care in East London. It should also strengthen the Trust’s profile and underpin its business development.
Current Research Activity
If you are interested in what research is currently taking place, check out our Current Research Activity page. It includes a description of the major areas of research as well as listing the research studies currently active at the Trust and a series of seminars discussing their outcomes are open to all.
News & Events
News & Events helps keep you up to date with changes and happenings in the Research Directorate. Your will also find here our quarterly Research & Development Newsletters with news of recent studies and outcomes, upcoming events and lists of recent publications.
Past Outcomes & Findings
In the Past Outcomes & Findings section, you can find a listing of projects which have been completed, as well as citations to the many publications by Trust staff which have appeared in international, peer-reviewed journals. You can also read the Research Directorate’s Annual Reports to the Department of Health and see how they rate our work.
Research Strategy & Management
Information on the Trust’s Research Strategy & Management is also available, including information on how to apply for research grants and answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Conducting Research in the Trust
For those people who wish to Conduct a Research Project, the East London NHS Foundation Trust has agreed to integrate its research management and governance (RM&G) activities with those of one of the Trust’s Higher Education Institution partners, the Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, part of Queen Mary University of London.
Beginning 1 August 2010, the Joint Research Office (JRO) of the Barts and the London NHS Trust and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry will provide governance and ethics advice, costing of projects, training of research staff, and the assessment of all proposals to undertake research projects in the East London NHS Foundation Trust, including issuing honorary research contracts or letters of access as necessary using the national Research Passport scheme.
Although the NHS has a responsibility for assuring the quality of all work undertaken within the service, not all innovative work should be defined and managed as research. In response to the increasing amount of evaluation, practice development, audit and other investigations, the Trust has set up an internal Ethics Sub-Committee which acts as an advisory group for the Trust Board and Clinical Directors. The Ethics Sub-Committee provides scrutiny and overview of all non-research projects in the Trust, which fall outside standard clinical care and involve service users and/or carers in order to ensure that such projects fulfil ethical criteria.
Any non-research project requires approval by the relevant Clinical Director before participants are recruited and/or data is collected. The Clinical Director’s decision will be informed by the advice of the Trust's Ethics Sub-Committee. Applications to conduct non-research work are made to the relevant Clinical Director and the Trust Ethics Sub-Committee simultaneously through the use of the Ethics Approval Form.