Governance & Ethics Committee for Studies and Evaluations (GECSE)

The GECSE advises applicants on their proposals’ compliance with relevant regulatory and ethical standards. The Committee consists of people who all have regular ‘day jobs’, but who contribute their time to:

• assess proposals’ compliance with relevant regulatory and ethical standards and advise applicants on appropriate revisions;
• offer guidance designed to improve the quality of studies and evaluations taking place in the Trust;
• ensure that any expertise regarding good practice in study design gained from the work of the GECSE assessing proposals is disseminated effectively throughout the Trust; and
• encourage staff at ELFT to undertake service evaluations and other studies.

GECSE meetings are held online monthly and the agenda and documents are distributed to Committee members a week in advance. 

Once received, submissions are initially reviewed to ensure they are appropriate and complete (with all supporting documentation) so we recommend that you submit before the deadline dates. 

Submissions are not automatically added to meeting agendas. We may provide you with feedback which needs to be implemented before the submission can be added to an agenda. An early submission will provide you more time to implement any feedback. 

The GECSE can review four service evaluation proposals per meeting.  Once capacity has been reached, submissions received and initially reviewed as ready for the agenda will be added to the following meeting date. 

You are welcome to attend a GECSE meeting remotely to present your application and have the opportunity to ask and answer questions in a supportive and friendly meeting environment. Please email elft.gecse@nhs.net and we will confirm arrangements for attending. If you are unable to attend, written feedback will be provided 10 working days following the meeting.

Meetings are recorded on MS Teams for note-taking purposes and the file is deleted after feedback has been provided to project leads. Please inform us if you do not wish your segment to be recorded.

The NHS is committed to involving service users, carers and members of the public in all aspects of its work. Meaningful involvement of people with lived experience can significantly enhance the quality, relevance, and impact of service evaluations. By drawing on the knowledge and expertise of those who use services, evaluations are more likely to address issues that matter most, generate meaningful findings, and support improvements that are responsive to the needs of the communities served.

As part of your service evaluation submission, you will be asked to describe how service users, carers and/or members of the public have been, or will be, actively involved in the design, delivery and/or oversight of the project. This involvement may include helping to shape evaluation questions, reviewing participant-facing materials, advising on methodology, contributing to the interpretation of findings, and supporting the dissemination of results.

Project teams can access support from the Service User Led Participation and Research Collaborative (SPARC), a group of people with lived experience who contribute to research and service evaluation across ELFT. SPARC provides valuable lived experience perspectives at different stages of the project lifecycle. Monthly SPARC meetings with SPARC's research advisory group provide opportunities for project teams to seek advice, feedback and support on a range of activities related to research and service evaluation. Further information about SPARC and how to access support can be found here.

Please complete all the sections of the updated Service Evaluation template (Version 8, November 2025). 

The template contains in blue italic font helpful advice, including hyperlinks to further resources, on how to answer the questions. 

Even if you think something is not relevant to your project – for example, obtaining consent from participants, engaging in PPI, or identifying risks – you must still complete the section justifying why. Leaving blanks or simply saying ‘not applicable’ is likely to impede our ability to assess your proposal.

Make sure you include all the items in the checklist at the back of the template – we cannot add incomplete applications to our agenda, and thus delay your review.

• (Mandatory) Line manager email endorsing the proposal – this assures us that your service is aware of the proposed project and is willing to cooperate with you and commit the required resources.

• If you are collecting information from participants (e.g., via interviews, focus groups, questionnaires), you will need to provide your:

  • Draft Participant Information Sheet (whether this is a separate sheet, or an introductory/covering statement on a questionnaire)

  • Draft Consent Form (or copy of the communication explicitly describing to a participant’s that their action – e.g., in submitting a questionnaire – is implicit consent to use their answers)

  • Draft Interview / focus group guides, questionnaires, outcome measures etc. (as applicable)

Email your completed application to elft.gecse@nhs.net; we aim to email confirmation of receipt of your application within 5 working days, together with a unique GECSE reference number. Please quote this reference number on all correspondence relating to your application.

• If you are seeking help on how to design / develop your project please refer to this useful five-step guide to the evaluation cycle (with thanks to the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West). For students and trainees, your Academic Supervisor is your best resource.

• You can also access additional support through our dedicated 1:1 Design Support Session. These sessions are a great opportunity to refine your template, ask questions, and ensure it meets the GECSE requirements. To book a session, please email elft.gecse@nhs.net with a brief description on your proposed case study / service evaluation and your general availability. 

• The Information Governance Team holds monthly clinics and can support in answering IG questions relating to service evaluation proposals. Find upcoming dates on the ELFT intranet. 

• If your evaluation involves focus groups, please refer to this helpful paper when designing your protocol: Focus group methodology: some ethical challenges | Quality & Quantity

• The following examples of good practice can also support applicants when developing their protocols.

GECSE Service Evaluation Submission (2026 Submission)

Reviewed as compliant at first GECSE review with a few minor recommendations to consider to aid study design. These were incorporated into the submission below.

• Service Evaluation Proposal
• Staff Participant Information Sheet
• Debrief Sheet
• Distress protocol
• MDT Focus Group Schedule
• Patient info and consent form
• Service User Focus Group Schedule

GECSE Service Evaluation Submission (2025 Submission)

Reviewed as compliant at first GECSE review with a few recommendations to consider to aid study design. 

• Service Evaluation Proposal
• PIS and Consent form - Service User (Combined)
• PIS and Consent form - Carer (Combined)
• Evaluation Risk Register
• Questionnaire for Carers
• Telephone Interview Schedule

GECSE Service Evaluation Submission (2025 Submission)

Reviewed as compliant at first GECSE review with a few recommendations to consider to aid study design. 

• Service Evaluation Proposal including Risk Register
• Participant Information Sheet
• Consent Form
• Focus Group Guide

Best practice in writing up a case study is described in a 2011 editorial by Lowman & Kilburg in Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. 

Definitions of a case study, report and series can be found in the Case Study Governance form. 

This form should be completed and submitted to the Trust’s Governance and Ethics Committee for Studies and Evaluations (GECSE) for any case study, report, or series intended for public dissemination. 

Email the completed form to elft.gecse@nhs.net; we aim to email confirmation of receipt of your application within 5 working days, together with a unique GECSE reference number. Please quote this reference number on all correspondence relating to your application.

If in doubt, our 1:1 Design Support Sessions can help you determine and / or confirm the methodology that best describes your intentions (book a session by emailing: elft.gecse@nhs.net). 

Following review of your application, it is likely that you will be asked to consider suggestions for revision of your application both mandatory (to conform to regulatory and ethical standards) or simply advisory to help improve your project and make it the best quality and best chance of success. Minor changes can be assessed and approved by the GECSE Chair but for more substantial changes will have to be reviewed by the Committee at their next meeting.

If we do not hear back from you within three months, we will assume you are no longer proceeding with the proposal and withdraw your application, but you can always submit a new application in the future.

You will always receive a letter from the GECSE confirming the outcome of our assessment – requesting revisions, notifying you of withdrawal (when we don’t hear from you), confirmation that you can begin work, or (on rare occasions) rejection of the proposal.

Remember, you need formal authorisation from the Trust before you approach participants or begin collecting data. The GECSE is a review body and we cannot provide retrospective permission for activities that have already taken place.

• The R&I website has information on various types of research and resources and a useful Frequently Asked Questions section for you to review. For example, if you need help with statistical analysis of your data, short consultations can be arranged to offer guidance.

• The Trust is eager to promote continuous improvement activity to which your study contributes. Once it is completed, please provide a copy of the final paper with a summary of the impact on the services so we can celebrate our achievements together.

• Contact: elft.gecse@nhs.net