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National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR)

How to Apply

This section provides full details of how to apply for the medical research services and the approval process your application will go through.

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• Application Form (NHSCR use the Privacy Advisory Committee (PAC) form for Scottish applications, available on the NHS National Health Services Scotland website)

• Ethical Approval

• Patient Information Leaflet 

• Study Member Consent Form(s) 

Approval process

Every application needs to be approved before any work can begin. This is to ensure that proposed research is ethically satisfactory and complies with security and confidentiality requirements. This process usually takes three to five months.

Applications are processed in the date order that they are received. For details on the progress of your application please contact us. Details of how to contact us can be found on our NHSCR enquiries page.

To approve your application we need to check:

• your supporting documentation
• whether use of the NHSCR is essential
• whether you require cancer registrations
• whether you have adequate informed consent.

We will then come back to you with proposed changes or approval.

To help us deal with your application as quickly as possible, please ensure:

• application form is filled in completely; and 
• supporting documentation is received with application form.