HRA Latest February 2023

Health Research Authority sent this bulletin at 23-02-2023 03:34 PM GMT

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HRA Latest - February 2023

Professor Matt Westmore, next Chief Executive of the HRA

Welcome to HRA Latest with news and updates for those working or involved in health and social care research.

As we head towards spring, we’re looking forward to hosting Make it Public Week - the UK’s first ever week dedicated to research transparency.

From 20 to 24 March, we’ll be sharing best practice in research transparency with a range of free events and activities.

I’m really excited about Make it Public Week and we hope you can join us.

Elsewhere in this month’s update, we’ve had more than 400 responses to our request for feedback on the hallmarks of people-centred clinical research and we held a fantastic event with the wider HRA community on our priorities for next year.

Finally, we’re excited to announce that we are recruiting a Head of Public Involvement. It’s a fantastic opportunity for a leader who can bring a wealth of public involvement expertise and knowledge to the HRA.

As always, for regular updates and the latest news, you can follow us on Twitter @HRA_Latest

Matt Westmore
Chief Executive

Join Make it Public Week (20 to 24 March 2023)

We’re holding the UK’s first ever week dedicated to research transparency – and you are invited to join us!

Make it Public Week runs from 20 to 24 March and will bring the research community together to share best practice in research transparency.

There will be free events and activities throughout the week, including a keynote speech from Professor Lucy Chappell, the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor.

Read more

Members of the public and HRA staff at the business planning meeting

Making decisions about the work we do next year

We held an event with the wider HRA community - including members of the public - to help us make decisions about our priorities for the year ahead.

The event is an important part of our decision-making processes and will help ensure the work we are planning is true to our strategy to make it easy to do research that people can trust.

Our Deputy Chief Executive, Karen Williams, has written a blog about why public involvement in this process is so important.

Read the blog

Male and female researchers reviewing paperwork in a lab

Developing a flexible and proportionate approach to clinical trials

We're here to make it easier to do health and social care research for everyone. The upcoming revision to clinical trials legislation is an opportunity to improve current practice, signalling the high quality of the UK clinical trial environment that has partnerships with patients and the public at its heart.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) consulted on a number of areas to inform this revision, including patient and public involvement in research, research transparency, the diversity of people taking part in research and taking a proportionate approach to innovative new trial approaches.

Once the government has published its response, we will work in partnership to develop guidance in line with it that is flexible and reflects the scale and nature of different clinical trials.

A medic wearing blue PPE, white face mask and a clear visor takes a nose swab from a patient.

Supporting commercial clinical trials in the UK

The number of clinical trials run by the pharmaceutical companies in the UK has declined over recent years. This reduces opportunities for people to take part in research. Turning this around can help research improve care faster.

As Lord O'Shaughnessy takes forward an independent review into the UK commercial clinical trials landscape, our Director of Approvals, Janet Messer, welcomed the review, and sets out the work already underway to transform UK clinical research.

Read the blog

Graphic showing the six hallmarks of people-centred clincial research

People-Centred Clinical Research survey now closed

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who completed our People-Centred Clinical Research survey.

More than 400 people shared their experience of clinical research and thoughts on our six proposed hallmarks of good people-centred clinical research. We are now working with the University of Lincoln to analyse the results to identify any themes, whilst continuing conversations with groups who are under represented in the survey results.

The results will be used to make recommendations for system-wide change to improve how clinical research is carried out.

Read more

Blog: How I got involved in research ethics

Through our Think Ethics programme we are encouraging the research community to think about ethics.

As part of this work we’re sharing stories from people involved in ethics review.

Our latest blog is from one of our Research Ethics Committee (REC) Chairs, Sue Harrison, who blogs about how she was inspired to become a REC member after the NHS cared for her husband.

Read Sue's story

Vacancy: Head of Public Involvement

We’re recruiting a Head of Public Involvement to lead on our public involvement work.

We’re looking for someone with a passion for public involvement, and a wealth of experience in involving the public in their work.

Applicants do not need to have previously worked in the health and social care research sector and the role can be home-based or based from any HRA office.

Please do share with anyone you think may be interested in the role.

Find out more

News from across UK research

Dr Simon Kolstoe, Senior Lecturer in Evidence Based Healthcare at the University of Portsmouth, and Chair of the Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee, has written about ethical lessons learned from COVID-19 human challenge studies.

Read the article

HRA Now - operation updates

HRA Now sends you everything you need to know where there are changes to the way we work

Here are some recent updates you may have missed from HRA Now:

Updated guidance for amendments and the NHS Digital merger with NHS England - Updated guidance on implementation of amendments to improve clarity of the guidance following feedback and information on what the NHS Digital merger with NHS England means for studies involving NHS Digital.

New IRAS user guide for CTIMPs - we’ve developed a new IRAS user guide to help you find the information you need more easily when you’re using the system. It presents the same information as the current step by step guide on the HRA website, but it’s in a different format and structure.

Updated UK model non-commercial agreement - an updated model non-commercial agreement (mNCA) is now available for you to use. A full description of the changes is available in the mNCA guidance in IRAS Help.