In July 2004, BINOCAR was successful in its application for MREC approval.

Medical research is important and the NHS plays an important role in enabling it. The approval of research projects not only involves approval of the resources requested and financial implications of the research, but also of any ethical issues involved in the research. NHS Research Ethics Committees (RECs) have been established throughout the UK for many years to provide independent ethical review of all health and social care research to safeguard the rights, dignity and welfare of those participating in research in the NHS. The REC is entirely independent of the researcher and the organizations funding and hosting the research. The members of a REC are specially trained in research ethics and are required to review and give opinion on the ethical aspects of a research proposal. These include patients, members of the public, nurses, GPs, hospital doctors, statisticians, pharmacists and academics, as well as people with specific ethical expertise gained through a legal, philosophical or theological background. Research projects can not proceed without REC approval. The RECs task is to advise the NHS body under which the research is intended to take place but it is the NHS body that has responsibility to decide whether or not the project should proceed, taking into account the ethical advice of the REC.

For more information on corec click here:

Click here to view confirmation of BINOCAR MREC approval (Adobe Acrobat).

Please contact individual registers for further details of research activities undertaken by BINOCAR registers.