All individuals wishing to carry out research that involves CPFT premises, staff or service users must find out from us whether they require contractual cover from the Trust. If CPFT is your substantive employer, or you have an honorary clinical contract with CPFT, then you are already eligible to carry out research within CPFT (provided it has received the necessary ethical and R&D approvals to go ahead).

If you are not employed by CPFT and do not hold an honorary clinical contract with us, then you need to approach the CPFT R&D office to enquire about arranging contractual cover if you are unsure what to do.

Please note: CPFT is implementing the "Research in the NHS HR Good Practice Resource Pack". This provides guidance and good practice standards for the NHS and higher education institutions (HEIs), to achieve consistency in issuing and recognizing NHS honorary research contracts and to reduce bureaucracy. In summary:

• Individuals whose substantive employer is another NHS Trust will be issued with a letter of access to cover their work in CPFT. Please approach the CPFT R&D office to arrange this.
• Individuals whose substantive employer is a HEI (including students) will be able to use a Research Passport (containing information about pre-engagement checks, previous research activities and contractual arrangements) to facilitate their honorary contractual arrangements with CPFT. Please discuss your requirements with the CPFT R&D office before approaching your university's HR department to arrange this.

A poster is attached in the documents section (right) to help clarify the national processes.

Please note that, in all cases, additional pre-engagement checks may be required before an individual can be offered an honorary contract by CPFT. Researchers should contact the R&D office via the r&d@cpft.nhs.uk e-mail address in the first instance outlining your proposed research before beginning the application process. A member of the team will then get back to you.

Navigating the Research Passport System

We realise that it can be confusing to try and navigate the Research Passport scheme on your own, and the CPFT R&D Department is here to help you. We have put together a basic flowchart on navigating the system to help all researchers: please download and follow the steps outlined in 'How to navigate the Research Passport system: a guide for researchers' in the Documents pane on the right.

Only employers can be accountable for the suitability of an individual applying to do research in terms of training, experience and conduct.  Substantive employers therefore retain the primary accountability and liability for the actions of their researchers.  Once NHS organisations have given permission for research that affects their legal duty of quality and common law duty of care, they then accept vicarious liability for harm due to clinical negligence.

Defining "a direct bearing on the quality of care"

Activities that could have a direct bearing on the quality of care are those that could foreseeably directly affect the type, quality or extent of prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness or foreseeably cause injury or loss to an individual to whom the NHS organisation has a duty of care.

Staff with substantive NHS contracts

Honorary research contracts are not required for these staff.  When NHS employees wish to conduct research in other NHS organisations, this should be covered by an agreement between the NHS organisation who is the substantive employer of the individual and the NHS organisation in which it is proposed to undertake research.  At present, a Letter of Access needs to be issued by or to CPFT for researchers who fall into this category.

Staff employed by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Researchers with no contractual relationship with the NHS:
The NHS organisation where the research will be undertaken will determine whether an honorary research contract is required and which pre-engagement checks may be necessary.  Pre-engagement checks should be documented in the Research Passport.

• where a researcher is conducting activities that will have a direct bearing on the quality of care, the individual will be accountable to the NHS organisation that gave permission for these activities.  An honorary research contract should be issued by the NHS organisation to clarify and confirm this accountability.
• when researchers conduct activities with no direct bearing on the quality of care, the vicarious liability for the actions of the individual rests with the substantive employer; an honorary research contract should NOT be issued by the NHS organisation.  Instead, a letter of access (for researchers who do not require an honorary research contract) outlining the researcher's responsibilities to the NHS organisation should be issued and copied to the researcher's employer.

• Clinical academics do not need an honorary research contract in order to undertake research in the partner NHS organisation where they undertake their clinical duties: this will be covered by their honorary clinical contract.
• when clinical academics wish to conduct research in other NHS organisations, this should be covered by an agreement between the NHS organisations where the clinical academic undertakes clinical duties, and the NHS organisation in which it is proposed to undertake research.  At present, a Letter of Access will need to be issued by or to CPFT to cover researchers who fall into this category.

In both instances, the Research Passport scheme should be used to ensure that the appropriate pre-engagement checks are in place.

Students (undergraduate and postgraduate)

Students on a healthcare placement:
Undergraduate and postgraduate students may conduct research as part of their healthcare placements.  A memorandum of understanding between the HEI and the NHS organisation should be in place for healthcare placements, which should confirm the accountability arrangements between the organisations.  Therefore students conducting research as part of a healthcare placement should not be issued with honorary research contracts by the NHS organisation.

Postgraduate students:

• Postgraduate students may conduct research within the NHS other than through healthcare placements.  When the student is not appropriately clinically qualified to undertake research activities that may have a direct bearing on the quality of care, the student should be supervised by a clinical supervisor who is an NHS employee or an HEI employee with an honorary clinical or research contract.  Students supervised in this way should not be issued with honorary research contracts by the NHS organisation.
• Where a postgraduate student is appropriately clinically qualified and experienced, direct supervision may be inappropriate. The student must be issued with an honorary research contract by the NHS organisation if the research will have a direct bearing on the quality of care.

Pre-engagement checks should be arranged by the HEI and, in all cases, the Research Passport system should be used to ensure that the appropriate checks are in place.

Research where the participants are NHS staff

Where research involves NHS employees as participants, the duty of care of the NHS organisation to its employees is non-delegable and the NHS organisation will always be liable, regardless of who employs the researcher.  Where the individual conducting the research is not substantively employed by the NHS organisation, an honorary research contract will not affect accountability or liability and should not be issued by the NHS organisation.