Abstract: Palliative care research involves both higher risk interventional studies and observational studies that are considered low risk to participants. Low risk studies in this context often collect anonymised patient data which commonly includes, but is not limited to: sex, ethnicity, hospital department or health board. The data is often collected retrospectively, where there is no direct patient contact and there is minimal risk of harm to participants. Data which involves collating patient outcomes of this nature may influence the care of future patients. Quality and risk factors can be identified through this type of study, and for this reason can be considered original research rather than an audit, which is often done intra-departmentally to monitor the quality of care delivered. Some low risk studies require approval from a regional ethics committee through the expedited review process. Through the research activities of the authors and contacts in their research network, it is apparent that there isn’t currently a nationally-driven standardised process for review of low risk research projects. Some of the scenarios experienced by researchers will be presented and recommendations for improving the process will be used as a format for discussion.