Audit, educational development and research: what counts for ethics and research governance?

This commentary identifies four main areas of concern in relation to the current processes for securing ethical and governance approval for educational development and research projects. These areas are: a lack of clarity over what requires approval; a reliance on one procedure for all applications; confusion over the scope of responsibilities within some Trusts; as well as concern over the scale of work required. While recognising that all work should meet appropriate ethical and governance standards, proposals are made for revising existing procedures so that they focus on areas of principal hazard, distinguish between projects involving patients from those that do not and invites consideration of self-validation with processes of quality assurance.