Terms and conditions of appointment as a member of a Health Research Authority (HRA) established Research Ethics Committee.
Period of appointment
You are appointed as a member of the REC for a period of up to 5 years as stated in your appointment letter.
If you have been appointed as a deputy member, your appointment period will mirror that of your named member. If the named member resigns from the REC, you may be given the opportunity to become a full member of the REC or to continue as a deputy for another named member.
Renewal of appointment
If this is your first term of appointment, you may be offered the opportunity to continue your membership for a further period of up to 5 years. For deputy members, this will be linked to the membership of your named member. Alternatively, you may transfer to a different REC.
You may serve simultaneously on more than one REC, subject to the agreement of the appointing authority.
You should not normally serve more than two consecutive terms of 5 years on the same REC. Where the normal period of membership has expired, the appointing authority may exceptionally extend your term (with your agreement) to maintain specific expertise, REC constitution, or while new members are appointed.
Resignation
You may resign from the Committee at any time by giving up to 3 months’ notice in writing to the HRA.
Attendance
Members must attend two thirds of full REC meetings which operationally is 6 meetings a year. If you also participate in the review of Proportionate Review (PR) applications the full meeting attendance standard may be reduced to a minimum of 5. In this circumstance, attendance at two PR meetings will be counted as a single meeting attendance. You are required to notify the REC in advance wherever possible if you are unable to attend any scheduled meeting.
You may apply to have a break in membership during your term of office. This would need to be approved by the HRA for a specific time period. Examples of when this may be appropriate would include maternity leave; ill health; working overseas. Attendance requirements for the year would be pro rata and your term of appointment would be extended by the same time period.
If you have a named deputy member, you should make arrangements with the deputy member to share responsibility for attendance at the REC. You should attend at least as many scheduled meetings as your deputy.
If you have been appointed as a deputy member, you should make arrangements with the named REC member to share responsibility for attendance at the meetings. The named REC member should attend at least as many meetings as the deputy member. Deputy members may attend meetings alongside the named REC member to ensure that you gain sufficient experience of the ethical review process; however, you do not count towards the quorum of the REC in these circumstances.
Attending meetings of other RECs as a co-opted member
You may from time to time be requested to attend meetings of other RECs as a co-opted member. It is not a condition of your appointment that you agree to such requests, but you are able to do so as a duly appointed member of a REC. Attendance at a different REC meeting as a co-opted member can also count towards your annual meeting attendance requirement.
If you have been appointed as a deputy member, you may not be co-opted as a member to your named REC however, you are able to attend meetings of other RECs as a co-opted member.
Education and training
You will be expected to take part in initial induction training and continuing training and education appropriate to the role of a REC member. A minimum of, 8 learning credits (equivalent to 4 hours of training) must be completed per year. Online training and face-to-face training opportunities are available, via the HRA Learning Management System to facilitate this expectation. Alternatively, you may wish to undertake your own self-directed learning which is appropriate to your role as a REC member. You will also be required to complete equality and diversity training during your term of appointment. This may be online via the HRA Learning Management System or via your host employer if available.
Declaration of interests
You are required, within 4 weeks of this appointment, to declare any personal or professional interests that have potential to conflict with the purpose, role or remit of the REC. The purpose of this declaration is to ensure that the functions of the REC can be exercised free of bias that could affect its independence in reaching decisions, and to ensure public confidence in the independence of the REC.
You agree to notify the HRA of any changes to your declaration arising throughout the term of the appointment within a period of four weeks from their occurrence. The declaration of interests will be checked with you annually.
Fitness to practise (where applicable)
You are required to declare if during the term of your office:
- you become the subject of a fitness to practise investigation or proceedings by a licensing or regulatory body in the UK or in any other country
- you have been removed from the professional register or if conditions have been made on your registration by a fitness to practise committee or the licensing or regulatory body in the UK or in any other country
Situations where a potential conflict of interest arises
You agree to advise the Chair or Vice-Chair appropriately, either prior to or at the meeting of the REC, when a potential conflict of interest arises. You agree to withdraw from any Committee business if requested to do so by the Chair or Vice-Chair. The matter of your withdrawal arising out of a declared potential conflict of interest will be included in the minutes of the meeting at which it occurred.
Confidentiality
You agree to treat in complete confidence all information disclosed to you by any REC relating to applications for ethics review. This undertaking does not apply to:
- any information which, at the time it is disclosed to you, is already public knowledge
- any information which, after disclosure to you, becomes public knowledge by reason of publication or otherwise, except through your actions in breach of this agreement
- any information which you can establish by competent proof was in your possession at the time of its disclosure to you by a REC
You agree not to use, record or repeat any information relating to the business of a REC, which you are required to keep confidential.
You agree not to make copies of any document or other material relating to the business of a REC, nor duplicate any information contained therein whether by photographic, electronic or by any other means, except for such documents and material which are public knowledge. You agree to keep in confidence details of other REC members, for example email addresses, and not share with anyone unless prior permission has been obtained by the REC members.
The duty of confidentiality also applies to all data held on the HRA Application Review Portal and other HRA systems. This includes keeping your password and l log in information confidential and only saving documents relating to applications and amendments on devices that have up-to-date operating systems and anti-virus, and that are protected by a strong, unique password or PIN. Password guidance is available from the National Cyber Security Centre .
Members must ensure that downloaded copies of REC applications are deleted and that any REC papers are disposed of in a confidential manner. Members must not retain REC applications for longer than necessary to consider the final outcome of a study. This applies to both paper and electronic copies of study documents. You agree to notify the HRA/REC immediately by contacting member.support@hra.nhs.uk where you believe any possible breach of this agreement may have occurred, whether such breach was inadvertent or otherwise.
HARP Reviewer Portal
As a REC member you will be required to use the HARP Reviewer Portal to access meeting documents and applications. By using the Reviewer Portal, you agree to hold the information contained in the Portal in confidence, and only use the information as needed for the purposes of undertaking your role as a REC member.
You should not share access, passwords, usernames, or log in details to the HARP Reviewer Portal with any other person.
Business conduct
You are required to conduct yourself in a manner which positively reflects the activities of the HRA and to treat colleagues, applicants, employees of HRA and other key stakeholders with respect and in an appropriately courteous way. In all circumstances you will be required to work in a way which upholds the reputation of the HRA.
Any queries from the media in relation to HRA or REC business should be referred to the HRA communications team. Any articles in relation to HRA or REC business should be passed to the communications team prior to publication.
If you receive a request for information which relates to HRA or REC business this should be passed to the HRA Freedom of Information lead to consider if it falls under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.
You are required to notify the HRA with regard to any incident or activity which may adversely reflect on the HRA.
Data protection
Please refer to the published HRA privacy statement for information about how your data is used.
Publication of membership details
Your full name, profession, affiliation and any interests declared under paragraph 7 above will be included on REC correspondence.
Indemnity and litigation
You are indemnified by the HRA who will take full responsibility for your actions in the course of the performance of your duties as a member of the REC or as a co-opted member of any other REC constituted by this appointing authority, other than those involving bad faith, wilful default or gross negligence.
You are required to notify the appointing authority of any action or claim that is threatened or made, and if such an event occurs you will provide assistance as requested in its handling.
Payment of expenses
You will be paid travel and other out of pocket expenses incurred in attending meetings of the REC or participating in approved training and education. Expenses will be paid in accordance with the policies and procedures of the HRA. There is no remuneration for the position of a HRA Committee member.
If you are in receipt of any state benefits you are strongly advised to seek advice prior to accepting these conditions.
Performance review
Your performance as a member of the Committee will be kept under review by the HRA. This will include monitoring your attendance at meetings and training events
Disqualification
If you fail to comply with any of the foregoing terms and conditions your appointment may be terminated by the appointing authority.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
When taking forward your role as a REC member, the HRA expects you to support our culture of inclusivity and respect and you can expect this in return in your interactions with other members and staff. We have a collective responsibility to communicate in a way which is constructive and respectful, and to maintain an environment in which all individuals feel safe and valued for who they are and what they bring. REC members share our public duty (Equality Act 2010) to demonstrate due regard for how we eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. To support this aim we particularly require members to undertake equality and diversity training during their membership (once in each term of office) and provide us with equality monitoring data when requested, if you are happy to do so.
Contact details
You are required to have a current email account which can be used to contact you. From time to time, we may share this email address with a third party working on behalf of the HRA to contact you in relation to HRA business only.
Signatures to the agreement
I have read the above terms and conditions of appointment to the HRA as a Research Ethics Committee member and accept them.
England REC member terms and conditions – Version 3 19 April 2023