Ethical review of a multicentre study in Scotland: a weighty problem

Objective: To assess the current working practices of local research ethics committees (LRECs) in their review of a multicentre study approved by the new multicentre research ethics committee in Scotland. Design: Observational data collected from correspondence with LRECs. Subjects: All LRECs within the geographical area of the study in Scotland. Interventions: None. Outcome measures: Delay from application to calling an LREC meeting, to an initial LREC decision, to final LREC approval, and the number of A4 pages r equired. Results: The median delay to review of an application at an LREC meeting wa s 28 days (range 14-97), the median delay from application to the time of L REC final approval was 39 days (range 21-109) and a total of 5,789 A4 pages (26.9 kg) were required to complete the application process. Conclusions: Despite recent standardisation of ethical review of multicentr e research, elimination of unnecessary delay, cost and variation in LREC op erating procedures is still necessary.