Ethics Committees
By and large an ethics committee is one that is primarily dedicated to the rights and well being of research subjects. An ethics committee is sometimes often known as the Institutional Review Board. The role of the ethics committee is an extremely vital one. As we all know, research is and has always been quite essential to the success of promoting and protecting the health and well being of all and to affecting good health and social care for the populace on a whole.
Having an ethics committee undoubtedly contributes to both the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning, delivery and ultimately the monitoring of health and social care. For instance the the National Health Social Services or NHS as we know it plays a pivotal role in enabling research of the best quality. Another governing body working closely with the NHS is the Research Ethics Committee.
The role of research ethics committees includes convening to provide independent advice to not only participants , but also to researchers, individuals funding projects , sponsors, employers , care organisations as well as professionals on whether or not proposals for the purpose of research comply with recognised ethical standards.
The research ethics committee is to protect the rights, dignity, well being and safety of all participants involved in the study. At the same time, they are also expected to recognise the interests of the researchers undertaking the particular study in an aim to contribute worthwhile information for the public at large.
The bottom-line of all this however, is that the interests of the participants are first and foremost and the researchers interest are secondary. In addition to all of this there is the need to take into account the principle of justice. What this really means is benefits and burdens of the research are to be evenly distributed among all groups in society, paying special attention to age, gender, economic standing, culture and ethnicity.
An all important feature of the research ethics committee is having independence from influences such as the political, institutional and or profession related. As you would well imagine, if they acted in the interests of these groups the majority would suffer. As it was earlier mentioned they need to demonstrate not only efficiency, but competence in their work and role so as to avoid unnecessary delay or misleading findings. It is therefore evident that the role of a member sitting on an ethics committee is not to be taken lightly. It comes with much work and responsibility.