As part of the work underpinning the development of the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research - the replacement for the 4 Research Governance Frameworks (RGF) - the HRA conducted a number of exercises to obtain a better understanding of the current systems in place for research governance. Further information on these projects can be found below.
Social care scoping exercise
The HRA has a duty under section 111 of the Care Act 2014 to coordinate and promote regulatory practice; in particular, the HRA must promote the co-ordination and standardisation of practice in the United Kingdom relating to the regulation of health and social care research; and it must, in doing so, seek to ensure that such regulation is proportionate.
Subsection 3 imposes a further duty on the HRA to promote the coordination and standardisation of practice in relation to the regulation of health and social care research giving it the lead role in removing duplication and streamlining the regulation of health and social care research across the regulatory system.
As part of the development of a new UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research, we conducted a scoping exercise to obtain a better understanding of the current systems in place for research governance for social care research. The HRA conducted a series of interviews across the UK which included:
- policy leads
- research governance leads
- ethics leads
- other stakeholders
The HRA used the findings from this exercise to inform the development of the replacement to the RGF. The UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research was reviewed at the HRA Board meeting on 21 January 2015 prior to a public consultation.
Perception of risk in research
We carried out a piece of work to consider the perception of risk in research and whether there is a differing perception between different groups.
As part of this project, the HRA sent a questionnaire to two groups; Research Ethics Committee members and Patient and Public Involvement representatives. The questionnaire gave summaries, with differing levels of detail, regarding a number of studies or scenarios. The individual was then asked to give an opinion on whether the study should go ahead despite certain ethical issues.