Our strategy
In June last year we launched our strategy, Making it easy to do research that people can trust.
The three-year strategy sets out how we will make it simple and fast to deliver research that people can trust following two key principles – include and accelerate.
We've worked in partnership with our members, volunteers, the public and the research community to deliver our strategy since then, and we're very thankful to them for their invaluable contribution.
Now we’re halfway through our three-year period, we’re sharing our progress so far and what’s still to do. As we look ahead towards the next 18 months, we're very excited for what we have planned, which will help make the UK an even better place to do research.
Matt Westmore, HRA Chief ExecutiveIt’s fantastic see what we’ve done in the past 18 months to deliver our strategy and make it easy to do research people can trust. We know there’s still a lot more work to do, and we have exciting plans in the coming months and year to help ensure UK research continues to deliver for the public and the NHS. As we mark this milestone, I would like to thank our staff and the HRA Community for the pivotal role they have played in helping us to deliver our goals.
References
The references are listed in the order they appear on the infographic:
Image 1
- in 2022, there were 3252 Research Ethics Committee reviews, 1099 HRA Approval Reviews, 126 Confidential Advisory Group Reviews and 315 Technical Assurance Reviews
- there were 383 submissions to radiation assurance and pharmacy assurance between 1/6/22 and 30/9/23
- data about user experiences of our services are drawn from the HRA user satisfaction report. Overall satisfaction is measured by respondents scoring their experience 7 out of 10 or higher
Image 2
- guidance about new models for decentralised trials published on IRAS
- principles and hallmarks of people-centred research published on our website
- since its launch in 2022, the Shared Commitment has grown to include 20 organisations
- there were 281 applications reviewed as part of the HRA Fast Track review service at existing RECs between 1/7/22 and 31/10/23
- data collected by NIHR on the past 12 months of NCVR: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/commercial-study-set-up-times-reduced-by-a-third-according-to-new-data/34693
- in the 18 weeks since the AI and Digital Regulations Service launched (June 2023) there were an average of 100 new users a week
- data taken from the YouGov public perceptions survey, commissioned by the HRA. The survey was conducted between April and May 2023 with more than 5,000 respondents
About us
The Health Research Authority is an independent arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care. We were set up in 2011 with a mission to protect NHS patients, your tissue and your data when you are involved in research.
We have more than 250 staff in England including at offices in London, Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester and Nottingham. They’re supported by our community of around 850 people who volunteer their time generously to help us to deliver our services, and members of the public who advise us on our work. The HRA’s Board leads the organisation and makes decisions that affect our work. The Board approved this strategy.
To make it easy to do research that people can trust, the HRA:
- works with people to understand what you want research to look like and act on this so that you can trust research.
- makes sure that people taking part in research are treated ethically and fairly, by reviewing and approving health and social care research studies that involve people, their tissue or their data before they can start
- champions research transparency, so that you can always see when research is taking place, or the results of that research if it has finished
- works with other organisations across the UK to make sure that, wherever you are, research studies can be set up smoothly and are always subject to the same scrutiny before they start
- is one of the gatekeepers of patient data, making sure that your information is protected if it’s used for research.
You can find out more about our work and what we do on this website, in our monthly newsletter HRA Latest and via social media.