Meet Jonathan Fennelly-Barnwell, Deputy Director, Approvals service

What motivated you to work in this field?

I have always worked in and around the NHS in England, in public health, policy, education and standards, and as a commissioner. For a long time, I have been fortunate to work in areas of health where diverse groups of people come together to help make good things happen, to help reduce inequalities and make people’s lives better through access to safe, effective treatment.

Earlier in my career, I worked between communities, service provides and professional associations to set up services that deliver appropriate care, as far as possible, creating opportunities for communities to be part of that. I am motivated by the work that the HRA Community and staff do in making research happen that gets treatment and services to people who need them. I remain particularly interested in the role of research in narrowing inequalities.

What would you like us to know about your work at the HRA?

Firstly, my work is a pleasure as I work with great people, staff and others, across the whole UK. I have been in the HRA since its inception in 2011, working in operational and partnership roles. Day to day, I am responsible for a large and complex system of around 900 volunteers and about 160 staff. As well as the practical issues to do with workforce and making the best use of public money, my work has a large focus on delivering the HRA’s statutory responsibilities as set out in the Care Act 2014. No one team in the HRA (not even mine!) can deliver this on their own. So, in addition to my day to day responsibilities for the Approvals service, I have the pleasure of working with others on the Executive Committee to make sure that the whole HRA is prepared to help make great research happen, and to provide the strategic direction and oversight to this work.

Within the Executive Committee, I have some other specific roles. I work with Becky Purvis, Director of Policy and Partnerships, as the strategic leadership team for the ‘Include’ pillar of the HRA strategy. This helps make sure that whilst we deliver those core services, we make sure we do so with an eye to how we can involve people in the work of the HRA.

I am the Executive Committee sponsor for equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). While improving inclusion in research is an HRA-wide commitment and endeavour, I have a particular repsonsiblity to work with the Inclusion Manager, and our staff-led groups, such as the Working Parents and Carers Network, the Disability and Neurodiversity Network and our LGBTQ+ staff group. I co-chair the EDI Steering Group, and these activities mean that I can help ensure that EDI considerations remain foremost in Executive Committee deliberations and decisions, and that I can support and sometimes constructively challenging colleagues at the highest levels of the HRA.

What are the interesting challenges in your work?

As well as the Confidentiality Advisory Group, that advises the HRA and the Secretary of State on the use of confidential information, which brings its own challenges, the HRA supports 64 Research Ethics Committees (RECs) and around 900 committee members. The committees all follow the same core guidelines and procedures to review research applications. Once reviewed, they give an opinion about whether the research is ethical. The committees are made up of different people, with different experiences, perspectives, and values. And so different RECs will see different things in the applications they review, though there are core matters that all RECs would identify. This can be seen as inconsistency, but it is what we would normally expect to happen when different people with different experiences and values are being asked to make decisions about risk and potential benefits of research. The challenge comes in making sure people understand that this difference is central to working with people on matters of ethics - which despite different frameworks - is not an exact science, and not seeing this as a problem to solve.

Do you have any career tips to share?

Yes, give enough attention to your work/life balance. Know your boundaries, respect them and politely encourage others to respect them. If you are finding this hard, do reach out – to your manager, to colleagues, to me or other members of the Executive Committee.

What’s your favourite part of working at the HRA?

The people. I have worked in the HRA since day one, in different teams and I have been lucky to work with and get to know amazing people, staff and volunteers. The value that the HRA places on having a wide range of people enhancing the way we work is evident to me. In recent years the focus on inclusion has been brilliant. This is a big part of the approach to work-life balance that we promote in the flexible ways we work .

Outside of the responsibilities of your role, what is there to get involved in at the HRA?

I am very involved in staff-led equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work. As well as Executive Committee sponsor for EDI, I am a member of several staff-led groups and chair of the LGBTQ+ group. My work as a senior leader is enhanced by the work of staff who get involved in Staff Voices which represents staff interests and ideas on important areas of work. I have also benefitted from staff policies in terms of study leave to support my own research.