1. Performance report
Qtr4 2017/18
May 2018

2. Contents Slides Executive summary 2-3 Strategic KPIs and benefits 6-12
Key projects update
14-15
Operational KPIs
17-18
User feedback
20-22
Finance report
Appendix

3. Executive summary
Strong performance continues throughout the fourth quarter with good progress made on our strategic KPIs and most operational KPIs meeting expectations.
Over the year we approved 4,568 HRA Approvals of which 3,689 required ethical review. We also processed 16,225 amendments of which 8,449 were substantial amendments.
Full analysis of our performance against our strategic objectives and KPIs has been provided as part of our Part 2 Board discussion in preparation for the Annual Report and Accounts process
An animation summarising our achievements in the year was developed for and launched at the all staff day and will shortly be adapted for an external audience.
HRA Approvals timelines remain sustained at the improved 2017/18 levels but continue to be vulnerable to staff levels and other change activity
Full ethical review 60 day turnaround target has been met all year and amendments 35 day turnaround, met in 11/12 months.
The procurement exercise for our research IT systems in nearing completion with demo days and final selection imminent .
Our ambition is to move from being a good organisation to a great organisation.
The quality of research in the UK is high, we punch above our weight, but we can do better – we have not yet managed to capitalise on the advantages that we should have through our comprehensive national health services.
HRA has made considerable progress but we still have a significant amount to do
Public confidence is crucial, but so is funder/sponsor confidence, researcher confidence and clinical confidence – we want all of them to invest in the UK’s research enterprise, whether it is their bodies and time, their money, their careers, of their clinical reputations.
Only if we have confidence will we be able to create the virtuous circle that we seek in which health research is a collaborative exercise in which participating in the research enterprise is part of the normal expectations of those involved in health services because they appreciate that the care they get today is built on yesterday’s research and their contributions to today’s research is their legacy to the future care for their families.
Because the driver for this vision is to improve health – this is not to deny the important of the contribution that health research makes to the wealth of the UK nations, but this is secondary to the goal of health improvement and is a means to achieve it.
So the model that underpins the vision is that research and care are complementary and not in opposition…..

4. Strategic KPIs and Benefits

5. User experience – KPIs being recorded
Theme
Description
Measure
Update
Service delivery
Improve end to end timelines
Full elapsed time for a valid application to receive HRA approval from receipt
Improvements achieved in first 12 months of HRA Approval have been sustained
(see following slides)
Guidance and advice
Increase the number of applications which are ‘right first time’
Reduction in number of applications received with missing documentation
Digital transformation business case approved.
Data being collated – trend line shows some improvement
Satisfaction
Customer experience remains strong
75% or greater satisfaction score at 7 and above
68% users scored 7 and above out of 10 in Qtr3&4
Baseline score from which trends can be tracked.

6. User experience
HRA Approval Timelines in Calendar days from REC final decision to HRA Approval by month of Approval
HRA Approval timelines from final REC FO have seen significant decreases from November 2016 to March 2017 where most study types have seen a levelling off through to June 2017, with the exception of Non-REC studies timelines which have more recently seen a decrease from September Collaborative working between Assessor and REC teams on joint approvals and changes in ways of working around end stage approvals and issue of HRA Approval letter have helped contribute to this. The trend reversed in January due changes in the validation process which have now levelled off. .

7. User experience
Median Timelines from Submission to HRA Approval .

8. User experience
Some improvement achieved in ‘getting it right first time’ which we expect to build on with the recent launch of the IRAS verification tool. Improvements to date have been achieved through extensive messaging across a number of channels to help applicants ‘get it right first time’ . Changes have also been made to the checklists in IRAS.

9. HRA operating model Theme Description Measure Update
Financial performance
Reduction in the unit cost of processing each application
5% reduction in baseline (16/17)
Proportionality review complete;
RS business case approved;
Organisational change process complete – Finance and Corporate Secretariat
Forecasting
Enhancing HRA forecasting tools to deliver a balanced I&E
Forecasting to be within 4% range of forecast target
Improved business intelligence reporting (oracle / SBS)
Change in accounting structure hierarchy agreed and initiated
Forecast within target range
Estates
Improve facilities utilisation and cost effectiveness
Achieve 8sqm/desk industry benchmark
Work towards 8:10 desks / staff member
Shared space at SKH improved desk utilisation by 20%
Cost sharing arrangements with NHS BT in Newcastle saved £35k to health.
8.1sqm/desk; 8.8 WTE: 10 desks

10. Our people Theme Description Measure Update Development
Our commitment to developing our people
Our ability to respond to user needs
100% eligible people have had an appraisal
>50% of our people have an opportunity to interact outside of HRA
100% of eligible people have had an appraisal.
61 people have taken the opportunity to interact externally (who wouldn’t normally). >50%
Wellbeing
Sickness absence – vital to HRA success that we create and support a healthy working environment
<1,500 lost days/annum (2.2%)
2,517
Consistent with 2016/17. No improvement.
Wellbeing key focus for 2018/19
Engagement
Strong engagement – resulting in a more productive organisation
80% from staff survey
78%
(compared to benchmark 67%, py 78%) IT
Providing the tools to enable our people to perform well
10% improvement on 2017
50% (compared to benchmark 59%, py 53%)

11. Leadership and transparency
Theme
Description
Measure
Update
Strategic stakeholder engagement
Increased participation on strategic decision making groups
Our ability to respond to user needs
HRA executives spend at least 20% of their time engaging with key external stakeholder groups
More people aware of HRA
Methodology agreed. Base line recorded from Feb18 – greater than 20% for Feb/Mar18
Director of Policy appointed.
Transparency
Our ability to demonstrate publication of research findings and improve visibility of research
tbd
Clinical trial registration audit and report on website
Accepted clinical trial registers agreed and published on website

12. Key projects update

13. Programme highlights
Developed and implemented joined up validation process
Developed and tested ‘ready to review’ threshold
Stakeholder review on proportionality
Launched technical assurances
Launched model clinical trials agreements
IRAS verification tool developed;
8 new e-learning modules – 76% satisfaction score, over 1,000 users each quarter;
Research IT systems procurement exercise
GAfREC reviewed and soon to be launched

14. Operational KPIs

15. Ethics service
Year on year improvement of the performance of HRA REC's and CAG
Apr-17
May-17
Jun-17
Jul-17
Aug-17
Sep-17
Oct-17
Nov-17
Dec-17
Jan-18
Feb-18
Mar-18 1G
Full ethical reviews complete in 60 days (Target 95%)
99%
97%
98% 1H
Proportionate ethical reviews complete in 21 days (Target 95%)
81%
89%
90%
88%
94%
87%
86%
95%
92%
75% 1i
Amendments to ethical review applications complete in 35 days (Target 95%)
100%
93% 1J
GTAC ethical reviews complete in 60 days (Target 100%)
80% 1N
All CAG Reviews and Amendments are completed within respective targets.
Service meeting KPIs is almost all areas. Proportionate review remains outside
of our internally set target. Significant improvement will require changes from
service improvement programme. Meanwhile, ethics service is working with individual
ethics committees where there may be an issue. Other factors impacting speed of
improvement include vacancies (now addressed) and member availability.

16. Learning and development
KPI 8
The HRA maximizes the value from the investment in training.
Apr-17
May-17
Jun-17
Jul-17
Aug-17
Sep-17
Oct-17
Nov-17
Dec-17
Jan-18
Feb-18
Mar-18 8A
eLearning User Satisfaction Score
80%
78%
72%
76% 8B
Unique users of eLearning.
353
1139
794
1780 8C
Person-hours of learning delivered
758
917
2393
2031 8D
Number of people participating in HRA-organised learning
168
156
411
412 8E
Number of people participating in collaboratively organised events 9 85
New suite of KPIs developed for learning and development this year. Significant
increase in person hours and number of people participating in HRA organised
learning following promotion of plan for staff and also attendance at national days
for Chairs and members. Collaborative events include those jointly delivered with
MRC and NHS BT.

17. User feedback

18. Overall service
Respondents were asked to rate the overall service they received from the HRA when making an application through the HRA approval process (where 1 represents not at all satisfied and 10 represents extremely satisfied).

19. Finance report P12 provided as an attachment