TY - JOUR T1 - Research ethics committees at work: the experience of one multi-location study. JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 352 LP - 355 DO - 10.1136/jme.22.6.352 VL - 22 IS - 6 AU - A E While Y1 - 1996/12/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/22/6/352.abstract N2 - 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. ER -