Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
RGS
 

What's new in RGS?

In this page... 

Phase 2

RGS has been upgraded, the main focus of Phase 2 was the deployment of the monitoring (post approval/authorisation) forms and publications components for projects already in RGS.  Other enhancements were also deployed which were detailed below.

Monitoring Forms (post approval forms)

Monitoring forms (post approval/authorisation forms) including amendments, progress, final and safety reports for projects already in RGS.

What projects will require monitoring forms to be completed in RGS?

All projects that have been created in RGS that are being monitored by WA Health HRECs or Research Governance Offices will require monitoring forms to be completed and reviewed via RGS.  This includes NMA projects.  For more information about the monitoring forms and the submission process see the Help Wiki pages for Amendments, Safety Reports, Progress Reports and Final Reports.  All the user guides available on the User Guides page in RGS

How do I submit monitoring forms for projects not in RGS?

All projects that are currently outside of RGS will continue to have their monitoring forms processed outside of RGS until they can be migrated into RGS i.e. complete the word documents and email them to the relevant WA Health HREC or RG Office. Migration will occur in late 2018.

Publications

The publications component of RGS has also been deployed.  This allows any research group member of a project to enter the publication details into RGS.  Publications have its own tab and there are a wide range of publications that can be associated with a project.  For more information check out the Publications page on the Help Wiki.

Enhancements

Tasks – Tasks has a whole new look.  It has merged current and overdue.  The task menu has the information in a series of columns that can be sorted and filtered.  To sort simple click on the column heading and it will sort the tasks by descending order, click it again and it will sort in ascending order.  The filter works by click on the filter icon at the right of the column headings.  Either select from the column drop down menu or type a search criteria into the text box and press enter.  To clear the search click the clear filter icon at the far right of the search.

Dashboard – The dashboard is a new function of RGS.  There are three dashboards, for Researchers, the Ethics Officers and the Research Governance Officers.  The dashboards will show all projects where the person has one of the above roles.  It can be filtered to show the different status of the projects.

User Profile - Qualifications and Expertise limited to 500 words so that only 500 words can populate into Project Details/WAHEAF.  Every RGS user can update their profile with a CV and GCP certificate (both in pdf format) at the bottom of their profile page.  The CV and GCP certificate can be viewed by the HREC members and Research Governance Officers when a project it submitted to them.

Create a Project – This form has been updated to allow the CPI to assign a CPI Delegate when requesting a project workspace.  Once the project workspace has been created the CPI Delegate will be sent and invitation and task to the project.

Forms & Documents Tab - Each project now has two tabs for its forms and documents depending what stage the project is at.  The Forms & Documents tab has been renamed Applications it is still for those forms and documents used to obtain ethics approval or site authorisation for the project.  Any forms or documents that need to be submitted after approval/authorisation are done through the Monitoring tab this includes amendments, safety, progress and final reports. 

WASM - CPI Delegate can now authorise this form on behalf of the CPI.

Application Documents - Document placeholders no longer created for AIRed documents.  When documents are created in RGS they are authorised automatically.

SSA Form – An email notification is sent to the PI to sign SSA Form when the form is marked complete.

Letters – There is now a 'Close' button at the bottom of the letter which will take you back to the Letters tab.  The grids in the Letters tab are now sortable.  Tooltip have been added for the EEOs and RGOs on Attach Documents to Letters.

Complaint - Finalising a Complaint – word change; unlock; remove invitations. Un-invite from a complaint. Complaint actions – unlock; finalise rows added.

Summary Tab - Project Summary relocated to allow for a more even distribution of the columns and text.

Additional Guidance - Blue text when submitting External Ethics to RGO; reference to my projects in New Project Confirmation Email.

Ethics Tab - Allow EEO (RGO NMA) to Update Project Ethics Approval Status when there is a pending RGO validation except for the status of Withdrawn.

April 2018 changes

SMS for Security Codes

The main enhancement in this release is the ability to receive your security code to your mobile phone.  If you already have your mobile phone details in your profile you can have your security code sent to your mobile by clicking 'Resend Security Code' after you have entered your password.  Select the option of 'Send to Mobile'.  If your mobile number is not in your profile you will have to update your details through Profile Management before you can use this option.  You can also update your profile to have the security code sent to you mobile every time.  Instructions to make these changes this can be found on the Help Wiki: Update your profile page.

Browser Checker

RGS is support on Internet Explorer 11 and above and Chrome.  There has been a browser checker deployed that will now stop people accessing RGS (logging in or signing up) using any other browser.  The public pages are still available using other browsers.

Project Members

There is a new text on the Members tab 'All project members who have access to identifiable personal health information/data from WA Health must be invited to the project on RGS'.  These project members can then agree to the confidentiality requirements of the project and for those outside WA Health agree to the Declaration of Confidentiality.

Changing a Project Member's role

The chart below shows who can change a person role within a project.

2018 Changing roles in RGS.JPG

Green can change any role at any site.  Amber can change roles at their site only.  Red can't make changes to that role (CPI or CPI Delegate) or can't make changes to other members.

Remove Member

The Remove Member button is visible on the Members tab in the project, however to remove a person (make a person inactive) on the project they must only have the role of Research Group Member (RGM).  By removing their current role/s allows that role/s to be taken by another project member.  A message will alert you that the person must be a RGM before they can be made inactive.

Forms and Documents

Who is the Head of Department?

The Site Specific Assessment (SSA), Budget, and Access Request (AR) forms all have a link in the Add screen that will take you to the Research Governance Offices on the Contacts page who can assist you to find who is the Head of Department at a site is.

The Budget Form Research Department

When adding a department in a budget there is now an explanation of what a Research Department is for the purposes of your budget.  If you need further clarification on this then contact RGS.Support@health.wa.gov.au

Documents

The documents grid under Ethics and Site Authorisation will now display both the version number and date.

Site Selector

The 'Submit Project to Governance' screen has added a site selector to cater for multiple submissions under the same Research Governance (RG) Office.  This will allow a submission to that RG Office when a validation is pending for a different site.

January 2018 changes

Stage 2 (Release 2A) changes were deployed to RGS on 19 January 2018.  

These enhancements are a combination of Stage 2 ongoing development by the RGS Project Team, and user feedback captured through RGS.Support@health.wa.gov.au, user experience workshops and Business User Group (BUG) representatives. A list of all Stage 2 changes are available from *What's new in RGS?*. The following features have been added to RGS:

1. Complaints – lodge, action and finalise

The ability to lodge a complaint related to a project, HREC or RG Office is now available within RGS. This replaces the current WA Health Research Complaint Form which will be removed from the RGS website. 

Once logged onto RGS, users will be able to access this form through their left menu and submit it to the relevant HREC or RG Office. Researchers and administrators can complete this form on behalf of a complainant (e.g. patient) if they wish to remain anonymous. This section will contain all documents, letters related to the complaint which is only accessible to those 'invited' to view the complaint (e.g. chief executive).

2. Sign up

  • Confirmation of New User's primary email address to prevent typos.

3. Inviting / Un-inviting

  • Members tab – Ability to un-invite an invited user from a project
  • Administration – Authorisation tab – Ability to un-invite an invited CE / Delegate from a Project (RGOs only).

4. Timelines

  • Improvements to ethics and governance timelines for validation and review 'with' and 'without' stop clock to monitor adherence to 60 day KPIs. Refer to the definitions to see how these are calculated!
  • Additional key dates to enable tracking of project reviews.

5. Forms & Documents Tab

  • On-screen message to Forms & Documents tab to alert users that authorisation is required for all forms and documents before they can be submitted.
  • All columns sortable by clicking on yellow arrow.

6.    Tasks

  • Moved the action button and renamed 'finish task' to 'archive task'. On-screen message for guidance.
  • Archived tasks will be deleted after 6 months.
  • PRN and form names added to the task description.
  • The initiator of a Project General Task will receive an email when the task is complete.
  • Committee Members tasks and emails now contain the meeting date instead of the meeting ID.

7.    Authorising Forms

  • SSA Form – Principal Investigator (PI) Delegate can now authorise the SSA Form. When the user clicks 'Unauthorise', signatures are no longer removed.
  • SSA and WAHEAF forms – The unlock button has been removed from the declarations page. The unlock button can still be accessed from the other pages to re-enter edit mode. Pop-up message warning that selecting 'Unlock' will remove signatures.
  • Pop up message when users select 'Authorise' to notify the user that when they have authorised a form or document it can now be submitted to ethics or governance.
  • Budget Form – PI Delegate can now authorise the Budget Form. The 'Authorise' button is now available on all pages in the Budget Form. The authorisation button on the 'Forms & Documents' tab directs the user to authorise from within the form.

8.    User Profile Changes

  • Users CV and GCP certificate are now viewable by RGS Admin, and relevant EEO, RGO and Committee Members. Saves submitting CV to HRECs.
  • Ability to add an ORCID ID to User Profile with a link to website.

9.    RGS Administration Changes

  • Utilities -  3 pages created for Support Functions (RGS Application Support only)
  • Home - Users will be notified of unexpected system outages (all users)
  • Manage Users –Records who has made an update to a User (RGS Admins only)
  • Profile Management - Close Account has been removed as no longer required, as RGS Support will deactivate users (all users)
  • Manage Sites - RGS Admins have the ability to deactivate a site in RGS but now have the ability to check which projects are active against this site before deactivating a site. (RGS Admins only).
  • Letters – NHMRC amendments have been made to the HREC approval letter (EEO only)
  • SSA & Budget Form Bundle – Must now mark both the SSA and Budget as not valid if relevant (cannot have separate not valid/valid statuses). On screen guidance added. (EEO and RGO only).
  • Administration – Ethics and Governance tabs – Ethics approval and governance authorisation status changes and associated dates are now captured to provide a HREC Approval History and Site Decision History e.g. when a project is Temporary Halted. (EEO and RGO only)

10.    User Experience/Guidance improvements

  • Home – RGS Help Quick Links added, including RGS Quick Start Guide for New User.
  • Project Header - Chevron now has blue text guidance to click on arrows for Help Wiki link step by step guidance.
  • Administration - Authorisation tab – CE/Delegate review – The CE governance forms/documents status changed from 'approved' to 'authorised'. Sign and Finish button combined. The 'Authorisation Decision Date' is based on when the CE/Delegate clicks finish for an authorised project. This is the date reflected for the authorised forms and documents.
  • Add Project Forms screen – Pop-up guidance for scenario where the user has submitted a form to 2 HRECs, and one HREC marks a form as 'not valid' and the other HREC has a validation 'pending'. The user must wait until all validations are complete before submitting to another HREC.
  • Add Project Documents screen – On-screen guidance to name documents correctly.
  • On-screen guidance regarding using Chrome for document download.
  • RGS Footer - Created Helpful Links for Glossary/Definitions and Help Wiki.
  • Announcements - Outage Notifications will now be displayed in red text.
  • Project Details - Red Warning Banner will only show the permissions warning if the user does not have the correct permissions.
  • Project Details - Specialist HREC changes– On-screen guidance and changed field to show 'Select if required'. 
  • Project Header - Added Specialist HREC if applicable.
  • Create Project – Notify users that someone other than the CPI can create the project.
  • Public pages – Copies of WAHEAF and SSA forms (with all questions) are now available on the RGS public pages.

11.    Access Request Form

  • Automatically puts form into 'edit' when form is ready to be 'Marked Complete' so that it can be signed by Principal Investigator (PI).
  • Pop-up message to remind the PI to Mark Complete after the HoDs have given their authorisation.

12.    Summary tab

  • Ethics approval and governance authorisation status changes and associated dates are now captured to provide a HREC Approval History and Site Decision History e.g. when a project is Temporary Halted.  
  • Contains a budget summary, viewable by the same project members that have access to site specific Budget Forms.

Past enhancements

The following RGS enhancements were implemented on 31 August 2017.

1. Home page user interface improvements

· Font size increased on menu and ribbons
· Announcements and events higher up page to fit on the screen

2. Login page

· Updated to prevent users clicking ‘resend security code’ button by mistake
· Extra warning text about security code

3. Extra security

· Sign user out of RGS after period of 4 hours inactivity

4. Project Workspace

· Chevron with links to ‘next steps’ guidelines to make RGS more intuitive
· Project Details - ! an exclamation mark will appear if unauthorised

5. My Projects

· Added ability to sort columns and added HREC approval date

6. Summary tab

· Risk type populated from HREC review decision

7. Sites tab

· Warning message to only add NMA sites (not private, university sites)

8. Tasks

· Users will be sent an email notification when they have a Project Task that has been initiated by another user
· When a General Task is sent to another user, it will be viewable in the initiators ‘Tasks assigned to others’ and disappear when it has been actioned

9. Members tab

· Coordinating Principal Investigators (CPI) can now be a PI Delegate 

10. Forms & Documents tab

· Project Members can view the validation of forms & documents on clicking a link in ‘view’, not on ‘date’(as previously)

Documents

· Special characters in document names are allowed

Forms

· Tooltips available on ‘view’ mode in addition to ‘edit’ mode
· Close Button available on ‘view’ mode – ability to close form using this button
· Emails are sent to CPI/Delegate and PI/Delegate when forms are signed by Hospital Administrators (governance) and PIs (ethics)
· ‘Pending signatures’ status added to forms when form has been ‘Marked Complete’ but not signed prior to authorisation
· Green coloured form index added – when section of form is complete, the section turns green. It changes when you click the ‘Next’ and ‘Mark Complete’ buttons
· Changed WASM questions that are not populating correctly to yes/no selection

Budget Form

· Added a ‘Total’ row to section 3 for the total cost, $ funding, in-kind funding columns
· Warning message if used clicks ‘unlock’ for research/supporting department if the section has already been authorised to prevent accidental removal of authorisation

11. Changes to User’s Personal or Contact Details

· Require RGS Admin approval when user profile is updated for change of name, primary and alternate email addresses (extra security)
· Ensure name changes are populated throughout system
· Added RGS Admin task to approve request to update user’s details
· Include new ‘area of research specialty’ – Emergency Medicine

12. Introduction of New Activity Flag for Comments Tab

· Alibility to notify recipient of new comment via email
· Ability to flag inappropriate comment for removal by RGS Admin
· Flag comments tab with number of new / recent comments for 7 days

13. Letters

· Add multiple attachments (with links) to a letter & ability to view signed letter
· Populated validation email with forms/documents that have been validated
· New ethics submission email with form/documents that have been submitted

14. Administration

• Update the sequence of sub-tabs within the Administration tab to logical order of validation & review process
• Manage Departments – Allow RGS Admin to move departments under a different division (allows for changes to organisational charts)
• RGS Admins – ability to revert EEO/RGO incorrect validation decision if valid/not valid
• Governance Admin tab - Only populate sites from WA public sites not external NMA sites.
 
 

Copyright © Department of Health WA  |  Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy

Technical Assistance:

Hours: 8.00am to 4.00pm AWST (Mon - Fri)
WA Health employees: Contact your Service Desk for password issues only
Non WA Health employees: Email RGS.Support@health.wa.gov.au