Radiation Assurance process will launch on 16 April 2018
Date: 21 February 2018
The new Radiation Assurance process will launch on 16 April 2018. The first phase will be open to all oncology studies involving ionising radiation taking place in the NHS; other study types will follow later in the year as we follow a phased roll-out.
Radiation Assurance has been designed by experts in collaboration with the HRA. There will be two ways in which studies may be processed through Radiation Assurance: HRA-managed and self-managed. The HRA-managed process will be run in a very similar way to the pilot process, with a couple of key differences:
· You will be able to request up to three trusts to conduct the review. You can also specify reviewers at these trusts who you would like to conduct the review. In either case, the reviewers used should be HRA registered. We will have a registered reviewer list available on our website, detailing each reviewers employing Trust, specialism and HRA registered reviewer number.
· There will be a standardised review fee implemented – £500 per review, per reviewer used – to make it easier for you to budget appropriately.
The self-managed process will only be available to non-commercially sponsored research where the reviewing trust and sponsor are the same organisation. Key aspects of the self-managed process include:
· The selection and management of CRE and MPE reviewers at the site will be conducted by the sponsor, not the HRA.
· The review fee will be decided and agreed by the sponsoring trust. It will not have to be the standardised review fee.
Reviewers will also be expected to use the HRA’s new guidance when conducting a review through Radiation Assurance, which has been developed to assist with consistency in the information presented in part B section 3.
Further information about Radiation Assurance is available on the HRA website, including details on the HRA-managed process, paying for reviews and the benefits of putting your study through the process. Additionally, detailed submissions guidance will be made available on the IRAS Help pagesby 16 April 2018.
The call for reviewers (CRE and MPE) has been extended by request of reviewers to 6th April. Please see here for details https://www.hra.nhs.uk/about-us/news-updates/vacancies-hra-radiation-assurance-reviewers/
If you have any queries about Radiation Assurance please do not hesitate to contact the technical assurance team at hra.radiationassurance@nhs.net.