Our Clinical Research Facilitation Platform aims to support clinical research across the Monash Partners network by addressing barriers and systemic issues. Our priorities include:
- Leveraging the scale and breadth of our research and thematic structure to create communities of practice
- Encouraging collaboration and sharing of research interests, learnings, best practice
- Coordinating workforce development programs that increase research capacity and foster a culture of research
- Addressing barriers to research through harmonisation and streamlining of processes
- Engaging externally to value add to Monash Partners activities.
Our Initiatives
Key initiatives of our clinical research facilitation platform include our Good Clinical Practice in Research Training Program, the Victorian Research Translation Centre Collaborative Research Collaboration Agreement template, the Australian Clinical Trials Education Centre (A-CTEC), supporting implementation of the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework in health services, the bridging research and quality improvement and assurance initiative, co-developing a partnership approach to implementing marra ngargoo, marra goorri, the Victorian Aboriginal Health, Medical and Wellbeing Research Accord, some of which are outlined in our tabs at the top of this page as we develop this webpage further.
Victorian Research Translation Centre Collaborative - Research Collaboration Agreement
This Research Collaboration Agreement template is for clinicians and researchers seeking to collaborate on investigator-initiated, non-sponsored projects between multiple organisations. Developed by Monash Partners, Melbourne Academic Centre for Health (MACH) and Western Alliance the Agreement replaces existing templates to expedite approval processes. More details can be found in the infographic below.
ACCESS THE RESEARCH COLLABORATION AGREEMENT TEMPLATE HERE
ACCESS THE RESEARCH COLLABORATION AGREEMENT GUIDELINES HERE
To provide feedback, please CLICK HERE
What is BRaQ?
Bridging Research and Quality (BRaQ) is a system-wide initiative designed to streamline, strengthen and standardise the way health services plan and deliver evaluation, improvement and data-driven research activities.
This has included a range of works conducted across the sector since 2024, led by Monash Partners in collaboration with Melbourne Academic Centre for Health and Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre, with wide engagement of different professionals and leaders in healthcare in Victoria.
Introducing the BRaQ resources suite
Five working groups with a diverse range of stakeholders from different Victorian health organisations developed this resource suite.
Members included Research Managers, Clinical Researchers, Consumer Advisors, Improvement Specialists, Quality Office leads, Digital Health and Informatics leads, and the Legal Offices.
The resources developed were informed by state and national interest holders such as the Victorian Research Translation Centre Collaborative, NHMRC, Health Complaints Commissioner and Safer Care Victoria. The consultation from state-level committees was also sought throughout the process.
The BRaQ Resource Suite can be accessed here.
Note: These resources do not replace local policy, legal advice or governance processes. Instead, they are intended to reduce unnecessary delay, by improving the quality of project proposals and encouraging early engagement with data teams. They also aim to support proportionate, risk-based decision-making. Organisations are encouraged to consider aligning with the resources provided to improve state-wide capacity with existing resourcing.
The BRaQ story
What is the problem?
Health services have a responsibility to evaluate and improve care. The health system needs to provide an environment that enables learning, to generate new evidence and to translate evidence into practice.
To learn, clinicians, patients, researchers, informaticists, and consumer engagement, and governance teams (clinical, quality and research) need to work together to ask the right questions, with the right tools, and engage the right resources, while keeping patients and staff safe.
What is the aim?
A core priority of BRaQ is to improve ethics and governance processes, so that:
- Projects are designed appropriately and ethically from the outset, optimising capacity for scale and spread
- Workflows between project teams, data teams and research governance are clear, consistent and efficient
- Data is used lawfully, ethically and transparently
- Health services can share data and collaborate with greater confidence and consistency
- Community priorities, expectations and trust are considered in all work undertaken, with consumers as partners.
What has been done to address the issue?
Activities conducted to date include:
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- Identifying best practice from evidence and engaging stakeholders
- Establishing a Community of Practice (CoP) - A collaborative network to trial innovations, share learnings, and build capacity
- Building a platform for broad collaboration, hosting State-wide Summits
- Exposing the ‘myths’ that have perpetuated historical processes
- A shared purpose was formed, with the development of these co-designed principles to underpin the work that we do.
- Sharing learnings with webinars
- Sharing impact and change through case studies, webinars, and resources
- Case studies to highlight organisational approaches and solutions
- Presenting the work at conferences to engage wider collaboration
- Consultation with other Australian state leaders engaged in addressing this challenge
- Development of implementation supports through pilot planning (in process)
- Capacity-building through development of use case scenarios (in process)
- Completion of five working groups to develop the BRaQ resource suite
- Use case scenarios will be made available to support learning by unpacking practices and beliefs that perpetuate legacy processes
What does ‘good’ look like?
BRaQ collaborators have developed a vision for the future of governance of healthcare evaluation and improvement including low-risk research that seeks to build a health system that learns.
Providing feedback
Please contact Rachel.Kerr@monash.edu if you would like to ask questions to provide feedback.
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