The Research Passport is the system for issuing honorary research contracts or letters of access to Higher Education Researchers who need to undertake their research within the NHS. The research passport provides evidence of the pre-engagement checks undertaken on the researcher in line with NHS Employment Check Standards.
University employees who need access to NHS patients, data or tissue samples should start the Research Passport process as soon as research proposal is finalised.
The Process
- Employee downloads the Research Passport Application (RPA) form: Word version here, or pdf version here.
- Line manager completes the Research Passport Algorithm to assess if any further checks are required.
- Employee completes any further checks (i.e. the Occupational Health Clearance and DBS check).
- Employee completes and signs Sections 1- 3 of the RPA.
- Line manager completes and signs Section 4 of RPA.
- Employee submits the RPA and all supporting documents and checks to HR by raising a ticket on ServiceNow.
- Once the RPA is signed by HR and returned, employee submits it along with all supporting documents to the NHS Trust's R&D team.
Information on the Research Passport process is available on the Researcher Portal.