The HSE Reference RECS have a standard composition that includes expert and lay members as well as patient representatives. Information about the HSE RREC membership requirement is included in the Standard Code of Governance and Management Required for HSE Reference RECs.
All HSE Reference Research Ethics Committees are required to have at least two patient or lay members. Patient Representatives and lay members bring their personal lived experience as patients or members of the public to the committee. This is important in the context of research that better meets the needs of patients.
- Why join a HSE Reference Research Ethics Committee?
- What is expected of members?
- Role of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson
- Expert, Lay, Patient Representative Members:
- Application
- Selection Process
- Compensation
- Download Expression of Interest Form
Why join a HSE Reference Research Ethics Committee?
All HSE Reference Research Ethics Committees are required to have at least two patient or lay members. Patient Representatives and lay members bring their personal lived experience as patients or members of the public to the committee. This is important in the context of research that better meets the needs of patients.
What is expected of members?
Membership of a HSE Reference REC is an important role and does require commitment. Members will be responsible for contributing to protecting the welfare and the rights of research participants in accordance with recognised ethical principles and standards of relevant legislation. They will also be part of a group that ensures that the HSE Reference RECs protect the host institutions, their staff and researchers by ensuring research abides to high quality ethical standards. HSE Reference REC members are unpaid volunteers and receive no payment for contributing to the review of applications at scheduled meetings or for attending such meetings.
Role of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson
In addition to the above, the Chair and the Deputy Chair, have an important responsibility in the management of the committee and they will require additional time commitments than regular members.
The main purpose of these roles is to Chair the committee to ensure that all study applications processed receive ethical review within relevant guidelines, legislation and SOPs. The Chair, as leader of the committee, is responsible for the committee function, ensuring that all ethical issues are explored, and clear decisions made and recorded. The REC Manager will support the Chair and Deputy Chair in their roles.
Expert, Lay, Patient Representative Members:
“Expert members”, meaning any of the following:
- A practicing or retired health practitioner.
- Have qualifications or experience relating to the conduct of health research (outside of being a member of a Research Ethics Committee).
- Have qualifications or experience in the area of ethics.
“Lay members” means any member of the committee who is not an expert member as outlined above.
“Patient Representative” means services users, patients or their carers. Research needs to be carried out ‘with’ or ‘by’ service users, patients and their carers, rather than ‘to’, ‘about’ or ‘for’ them.
Application
From time to time the HSE REC Support and Coordination Office will run specific purpose recruitment campaigns. However individuals are invited to submit expression of interests anytime. These submissions will be considered when vacancies become available.
Interested candidates need to:
- Email the completed form to HSE.REC@hse.ie. Please include ‘HSE Reference REC Member EoI’ in the subject line.
Selection Process
Expressions of Interest will be evaluated for demonstration of the skills and attributes necessary for effective HSE Reference REC participation. This will include an ability to work as part of a team, to understand complex issues to the extent required to form and voice an opinion, and to be objective in considering issues and weighing-up conflicting opinions.
HSE Reference REC members are appointed for a fixed term not exceeding three years. Appointments may be renewed once, so that the full term is six years.
In the interest of transparency: Membership of all HSE Reference RECs will be published via the HSE R&D Website.
Compensation
HSE Reference REC members are unpaid volunteers and receive no payment for contributing to the review of applications for scheduled meetings or for attending such meetings. However, expenses incurred during the course of a HSE Reference REC member’s duties are reimbursed. These may cover travel and subsistence among other, but do not cover loss of earnings. Other HSE Reference REC Members will not be paid, however remuneration for Patient Representatives will be awarded in due course in line with future recommendations from the Department of Health.
updated 06/07/22