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Outreach consent process

Patients must have written, informed consent to participate in the BSRBR-RA. Consenting a participant remotely involves the following stages:


Outreach consent invitation letter sent to patient


Post the Outreach Consent Invitation Letter (or Outreach Re-consent Covering Letter if re-registering a patient already taking part in the study) to the potential participant (along with the following documents: HAQ; EQ-5D*; participant information sheet; transparency information sheet and consent form - which are available to download here.) *Please contact the team if you need an EQ-5D, as this is not available on the website.


Nurse/delegated health care professional telephones the patient

This gives the patient the opportunity to discuss the study and ask any questions they may have regarding taking part. Please note: this phone call can also be made in advance of sending out the study information if preferred.

Obtaining consent

If the participant wishes to be involved, the consent form should be signed and dated and posted back to the hospital (along with the completed HAQ/EQ-5D). Please note: only participants who agree to all sections of the consent form can be enrolled in the study. Each box on the consent form should be initialled or ticked to indicate consent.

Countersigning the consent form

The rheumatology/research team countersigns the consent form, posts a copy back to the participant, places a copy in the participant's NHS notes and keeps the original in the site file.


Uploading the consent form

An electronic copy of the consent form should be uploaded to the BSRBR-RA online database as part of the registration process, in the usual way.

Full information on all aspects of registering a new participant on the BSRBR-RA online database can be found in the training and help section.


The outreach consent process is summarised in the following flowcharts:

Outreach Consent Flowchart (new registrations)
Outreach Consent Flowchart (re-registrations)