Research office
Research office
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The role of our research office
Our research office supports people undertaking research at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty.
Our role is to facilitate research review and authorisation so that people conduct their research according to national standards and guidelines.
Contact our research team
For general enquiries
Phone +64 07 579 8565 or email research@bopdhb.govt.nz
Locality authorisation
Our staff administer the local authorisation of research to be conducted with our services.
Standards, guidelines and processes
We provide guidance to researchers and develop policies and processes based on the National Ethical Standards for Health and Disability Research and Quality Improvement.
Health and disability ethics committee review
The team provides guidance on the ethical review requirements for health research projects.
Related information/resources
- neac.health.govt.nz National Ethical Standards for Health and Disability Research and Quality Improvement.
- Locality authorisation
Locality authorisation
The term "locality authorisation" refers to the process used by the NZ Health and Disability Ethics Committees (HDECs) for ascertaining that all local governance issues have been addressed at sites participating in a research project.
All health research to be undertaken at Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty must have locality authorisation before the research is started. Applications should be submitted by the local study representative from our locality.
External researchers should contact the Research Office if they do not have one of our representatives on the research team.
To obtain locality authorisation, researchers must have undertaken:
Local consultation
Consult with your local Head of Department and Service Leaders to confirm that they support the proposed research being conducted within the relevant services and that they approve of the resource use and proposed budgets.
Māori consultation
Discuss your project with Te Pare о̄ Toi (Māori Health Gains and Development) team and gain Māori endorsement of the project.
Ethics review
The level of ethics review depends on the type of project to be undertaken. There are a few options for ethics review including HDEC or through an academic institution. The HRCs website provides a good overview of ethics requirements in New Zealand. We can provide guidance based on study specifics.
Locality authorisations requests
Once the local consultation, Maori consultation, and ethics reviews (if applicable) have been finalised, research applications should be submitted to us for locality authorisation.
Applications for locality authorisation can be submitted online via the intranet for Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty staff. Paper forms can be obtained from the research office for external researchers without a local study contact.
The following documents, as applicable, are required in support of the application:
- Evidence of Privacy Assessment
- Study protocol
- Patient information sheet and consent form
- Patient questionnaire or surveys
- Evidence of Head of Department approval
- Evidence of Service Business Leader approval
- Evidence of Māori Consultation
- Evidence of peer/scientific review
- Evidence of ethics approval
- Details of funding/study budget