Ethical approval

All research conducted within the OpenSAFELY Service must comply with the research ethics requirements of NHS England.

If your project is classified as Research, you will need a favourable opinion from a local / institutional Research Ethics Committee. If your project is a Service Evaluation or Audit, you will need confirmation of this classification from a local / institutional Research Ethics Committee (but full application to obtain a favourable opinion is not required), and provide evidence of support from a senior sponsor, such as an NHSE national clinical lead, band 9, director, or the sponsor might be a member of SAGE, JCVI, etc.

Understand what ethical approval your project requires

Take a look at the OpenSAFELY Research Ethics Compliance policy to understand what ethics your project requires. If you are in any doubt, please contact us.

Please also ensure you familiarise yourself with the NHS England ethical approval guidance.