We want to improve the approvals process for people applying to start health and social care research involving AI or data driven technologies.
To identify common issues with our existing approvals process, we conducted qualitative research, a literature review, and a series of workshops with patients; industry; clinicians; academics; other regulators and HRA staff and volunteers.
This work showed we need to help developers of AI and data driven technology get access to data quickly and to clarify which activities are research and what approval they require.
We already had projects underway looking at a coordinated review for medical devices and streamlining Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) review. We will build on these by running a pilot to test new ways of working for CAG, and two additional projects focusing on data holding structures and supporting developers to access data and get the right approvals.
Read more about our new projects and what we are doing to streamline the approvals process for people who are developing AI or data driven research.