Quality Improvement

Per the  National Statement Section 5.1.22 , the NSW Supplement to the National Statement – Section 5.1.6, and NSW Health Guidelines  GL2007_020: Quality Improvement and Ethics Review: A Practice Guide for NSW , quality improvement activities may sometimes be exempt from the requirement for full ethical review.

Please note that as journals increasingly require formal ethical review of any research activity, and the HREC is unable to provide retrospective approval, you are strongly advised to contact the Research Office for guidance prior to commencing any study/research-related activity.

Case Reports

In keeping with a number of other major ethics committees, the NSLHD HREC supports a process by which case report proposals are reviewed at an HREC Executive Committee level. An ethics application is not required, however the HREC requests a cover letter outlining the background and aims of the case report and a copy of the consent form which will be provided to the patient. A template has been developed based on the proforma template suggested by the British Medical Journal.

Please note that case reports will only be considered exempt from formal review when they involve less than 5 patients.

 Click here for a letter and consent form template.