BU Research Blog

Who: Researchers and people who apply for ethics review

When: Wednesday 31 August 10am to 12.30pm

They are holding a workshop to gather ideas to make the ethics review more proportionate. The HRA want to hear from researchers and people who apply for ethics review about your views on how they can further improve the current service.

The Research Ethics Service reviews a wide range of studies with varying levels of ethical complexity and ethical risk. The HRA know that there are ways in which they can make some of the current methods of review more proportionate to the material ethical risks within a research proposal, which could contribute to an overall streamlining of review of research.

Their ideas

1. Introduce a tool to support researchers to think ethically as they design their study and before they submit their study for review
2. Make more use of expert Research Ethics Service and approvals staff in reviewing lower risk research
3. Delegate ethics review for studies within a programme of research to research institutions, cutting back bureaucracy for programmes which already have a favourable ethics opinion

The online workshop will take place on Wednesday 31 August from 10am to 12.30pm. To express interest in attending this workshop, please email engagement.team@hra.nhs.uk.

Rethinking ethics review: the public conversation runs from 13 June until 23 September. You can read more and take part in the HRA’s survey on their website.