Andrew Maines

Head of Research and Development at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

“I think regulation is important. My core activity is research governance, so I understand where it comes from. In my talks and seminars, I point out that the Regulations come from the fact that the public want assurance that things are being done in the right way.

“Our job is to support research and allow it to develop. The HTA’s Codes of Practice have been extremely useful. They’ve given us quality assurance standards; and our operating procedures are now based on what they set out. The guidance is there to be used, and we’ve been able to check our standards, asking ourselves ‘can we do this?’ and ‘does this make sense?’.

“Regulation isn’t holding back tissue-based research. We thought the HTA and compliance with the legislation would stop clinical research in its tracks. That’s not happened. We have seen no effect on the level of activity, and there’s been an increase in quality.”