Research ethics committees at work: the experience of one multi-location study.

OBJECTIVES To report the outcome of applications to 43 research ethics committees. SETTING Four regional health authorities in England. FINDINGS The research ethics committees varied considerably in their practices. The time lapse until notification of the outcome of the approval ranged from just under one week to 23 weeks with a mean of 8.6 weeks. Four research ethics committees failed to notify the research team of an outcome of their request for approval. CONCLUSION A national research ethics committee is needed to review national and multi-location research studies in the light of the fragmented and variable practice of local research ethics committees.