Understanding Research Ethics Committees: The New Regime. (360G-Wellcome-079231_Z_06_Z)

Title of meeting: Understanding Research Ethics Committees: The New Regime Topics to be covered include: Consistency in decision-making, assessing whether such disparities are necessarily a flaw in operating procedures or whether they represent a valuable form of divergence; Inter- and Intra-group dynamics, assessing the relationships between LRECs and MRECs and the individual personalities within groups which may have a bearing upon decisions reached; The need for "Ethics Plus", assessing the role of ethical oversight bodies in genetic research and their relationship with established Review Committees; International oversight, assessing whether the current initiatives comply with the ICH-GCP and whether an internationally centralised system of oversight is achievable; Overview of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA, charged with overall responsibility for COREC as part of the DoH "Arm's Length Bodies" review) and how to navigate the process of application for ethical approval; Critical analysis of the changes being implemented in the light of past criticisms and an assessment of the value of the new regime for the future; Assessment of applying for approval from the perspective of an applicant and whether the new regime represents an improvement on a practical level to past experience.