Representation from different REC regions.

The rapid development of vaccines and other innovative medical technologies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required streamlined and efficient ethics and governance processes. In the UK the Health Research Authority (HRA) oversees and coordinates a number of the relevant research governance processes including the independent ethics review of research projects. The HRA was instrumental in facilitating the rapid review and approval of COVID-19 projects, and following the end of the pandemic, have been keen to integrate new ways of working into the UK Health Departments’ Research Ethics Service. In January 2022 the HRA commissioned a public consultation that identified strong public support for alternative ethics review processes. Here we report feedback from 151 current research ethics committee members conducted at three annual training events, where we asked members to critically reflect on their ethics review activities, and to share new ideas or ways of working. The results showed a high regard for good quality discussion among members with diverse experience. Good chairing, organisation, feedback and the opportunity for reflection on ways of working were considered key. Areas for improvement included the consistency of information provided to committees by researchers, and better structuring of discussions by allowing signposting of the key issues that ethics committee members might need to consider.

为应对新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）大流行，疫苗及其他创新医疗技术的快速研发亟需精简高效的伦理与治理流程。在英国，健康研究署（Health Research Authority, HRA）负责监督并协调多项相关研究治理工作，涵盖研究项目的独立伦理审查。该署曾为新冠疫情相关项目的快速审查与获批提供关键支撑；疫情结束后，其亦致力于将新型工作模式融入英国卫生部门的研究伦理服务体系。2022年1月，健康研究署发起公众咨询，结果显示公众对替代型伦理审查流程抱有高度支持。本研究整理了三场年度培训活动中征集的151名现任研究伦理委员会（Research Ethics Committee）成员的反馈：我们邀请成员对自身参与的伦理审查工作展开批判性反思，并分享新型工作思路与模式。调研结果显示，成员们高度认可具备多元经验的参会者所开展的高质量讨论；优质的会议主持、流程组织、结果反馈，以及针对工作模式开展反思的机会，被视作伦理审查工作的核心要素。待优化的方向包括：研究人员向委员会提交的信息需保持一致性，以及通过明确标注伦理委员会成员需考量的核心议题，来优化讨论的结构框架。