Potential solutions to improve the governance of multicentre health services research

Clay-Williams, Robyn; Taylor, Natalie; Braithwaite, Jeffrey

doi:10.5694/mja16.01268

Topics

Building bridges between research groups and the health system will facilitate the production of non-clinical studies

Obtaining institutional consent to conduct health services research in Australia has become onerous and time-consuming,1-8 and thus we present potential solutions to the challenges encountered when seeking approval for large multicentre non-clinical studies. These ideas have been synthesised from what is already known and from our experience obtaining ethics and governance approvals for 60 large public hospitals participating in the Deepening our Understanding of Quality in Australia (DUQuA) study. DUQuA9 is a 3-year Australia-wide, cross-sectional study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). This study aims to assess how hospital quality management systems, leadership and culture are related to care delivery and patient outcomes for acute myocardial infarction, stroke and hip fracture.

Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, NSW

Correspondence: robyn.clay-williams@mq.edu.au

Acknowledgements:

DUQuA was funded by the NHMRC Program Grant APP1054146 (CI Braithwaite).

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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