Society
Bringing psychology to government policy
APRIL saw considerable activity from the Society’s Policy Response
Unit – 13 responses were submitted, involving the hard work of many
Society members. Here are details of some of them.
NHS research ethics
Researchers working within the NHS will be interested to hear of recent
developments in procedures for ethical review. Hugh Foot, who led the
Society’s response to the consultation (which applied to England and
Scotland only), explained the background: ‘Despite the attempts of the
Central Office for Research Ethics Committees to harmonise and speed up
the process of ethical review within the NHS, most researchers have
complained bitterly of bureaucracy and the inconsistent handling of
proposals. Because of such concerns Lord Warner announced that he would
review the operation of the ethics system in England before the
National Patient Safety Agency took over COREC’s function in April
2006. The NPSA’s NHS REC Change Advisory Group was set up to consider
Lord Warner’s recommendations and agree
an implementation plan for England, and the Scottish Ethics Advisory
Group considered the situation in Scotland. It is consultation over
these sets of recommendations to which the Research Board of the
Society has just given its response.’ Full details of the NPSA
implementation recommendations can be viewed on: tinyurl.com/nnqek.
One of the key proposals is to reconfigure the REC system as a
‘more agile research ethics service’. This will include a triage system
operated by a team of independent National Research Ethics Advisers,
situated within COREC, who will direct ‘appropriate’ studies for
consideration by full committees but filter out those that do not need
full ethical review. Such studies include ‘surveys or other
non-research activity if they present no material ethical issues for
human participants’. Exactly why surveys are regarded as ‘non-research’
is unclear. Guidelines have still to be developed to aid researchers
and committees to decide what is appropriate for triage or for handling
by RECs.
Other recommendations are for recompensing employers for the time REC
members spend on committee work, for drawing upon a wider mix of
society supported by appropriate training and for improving the
application process and the application form. The Society responded by
broadly endorsing the recommendations of the Warner Report and the
implementation recommendations. The Society also pressed that training
offered to the National Advisers included specific awareness of
psychological research and that psychologists (in particular clinical
psychologists) should be invited to serve on NHS RECs.
Pre-degree syllabus
Responding to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the GCE
AS/A-level subject criteria for science, the Society called
for more emphasis on critical thinking and commentary.
The revised content, with a minimum of only two core areas to be covered at A2,
still allows otherwise excellent A-level students to effectively ignore
major areas taught at degree level (e.g. cognitive psychology,
neuroscience).
The response also called for more joined-up thinking between GCSE and
A-level, and a more contemporary feel to the topics given emphasis. The
consultation response concluded: ‘The proposed expansion of pre-degree
psychology will require major changes in the resourcing and provision
of teacher training, and this will be a key factor in the success (or
otherwise) of these proposals.’
Trafficking, HIV, work, and more
Other responses included one to the Home Office and Scottish Executive
on tackling human trafficking, prepared by Dr Jane Ireland and Dr
Suzanne Conboy-Hill. It was felt that the consultation document was
weighted towards women and sexual exploitation, and the Society called
for more on other forms of exploitation, including the exploitation of
men and forced child labour. The response went on to describe
trafficking as an abuse system based on familiar patterns of isolation,
destruction of self-esteem, institution of fear and dependence.
Counter-measures of information, de-isolation, and emotional support
were advocated, along with careful assessment of the risk
of breaking free of an organised crime system. The potential for staff
dealing with such cases to become ‘burned out’ was also highlighted.
A response to the consultation on the UK Department of Health Report to
the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS
proposed that ‘systematic counselling should be mandatory in all NHS
and private STI clinic consultations’. It also flagged up growing
evidence from US research that ‘baby boomer’ older adults are engaging
in unprotected sex with the assumptions that their generation are not
infected
and that they do not need to guard against fertility complications. As
the ageing population increases, research is urgently needed in Britain
to underpin an NHS action plan for health professional training and
older adult care in this area.
Responding to the Department of Work and Pensions Green Paper A New
Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work, the Society argued that
‘employers should take a more active role both in prevention of any
health problems and in effective rehabilitation and a return to work’.
It also called for ‘some well-executed “return on investment” research
aimed at employers, demonstrating the benefits that can be accrued from
health-focused preventative measures in the workplace e.g. reduced
sickness absence’.
Other activity included responses to consultations on the new lasting
power of attorney, to the Department of Trade and Industry on maternity
and adoption leave and flexible working, and on substance misuse
services in Scotland.
o To view all current Society consultations and responses, and to get involved, see www.bps.org.uk/publications/consultation-papers/consultation-papers_home.cfm.
For more information on Society consultations generally, please contact
Christina Docchar, Policy Unit Support Manager. E-mail:
[email protected].
Fellowship citation
Dr Robert Durham
THE BPS Fellowship Committee has awarded a Fellowship to Dr Robert
Durham. Dr Durham is a senior lecturer in clinical psychology at the
University of Dundee and is a noted international expert in the
management and treatment of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) using
cognitive behaviour therapy. His initial clinical training was at the
Institute of Psychiatry, from where he moved to Whitchurch Hospital in
Cardiff working alongside John Teasdale and David Hawks. He moved to
the USA to study for his PhD in clinical psychology, returning to the
Tayside Area Clinical Psychology Department in Dundee. From then
onwards he has been prolific in his research output on GAD. most
notable of which is his collaborative work using randomised controlled
clinical trials of psychological therapy for GAD demonstrating the
powerful impact of cognitive therapy on this common clinical disorder.
This research finding was further reinforced in his following series of
studies supported by the NHS Executive Health Technology Assessment
programme.
Robert Durham continues to explore the research data and regularly adds
to the clinical literature in journals and book chapters.
Dr Durham was invited to be a member of the British Association for
Psychopharmacology committee on treatment for anxiety disorders and
continues to serve that body. He has also made significant
contributions to the training of clinical psychologists in Scotland and
other health professions working in mental health.
It is for this high-quality and focused contributions to applied
psychology, which is now recognised nationally and internationally,
that the committee is pleased to confer his Fellowship award.
(Please note that some pictures may have been removed for copyright reasons)
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