Global Maternal Health Research Assistant
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it.Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’.Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS.We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
We are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic research assistant to join the central coordinating team for a new global maternal health research group: Preterm pre-eclampsia - placental growth factor testing for reduction of adverse outcomes (PAPAGAIO).The PAPAGAIO research programme is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and aims to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes around the world by evaluating placental growth factor, an angiogenic biomarker for preterm pre-eclampsia.
The research will be conducted in Sierra Leone, Zambia, India, Brazil and South Africa. This post will provide extensive experience and is an important stepping-stone for anyone interested in developing their skills as a mixed methods researcher.
The post holder must be comfortable working in a multidisciplinary environment and have excellent communication skills. They must be comfortable working independently and be able to manage competing/conflicting demands on their time. The role calls for a detail-oriented and highly motivated individual with experience in project administration and coordination, and the ability to deliver to time and target.Eligible candidates will have a Bachelors or Master’s degree, ideally with experience in research and Global or Maternal Health.
This is a full-time post for one year, with a probationary review at 3 months. Flexible working hours and location will be permitted. The position is likely to involve overseas travel to research sites.
Main duties of the job
The Research Assistant is a critical role within the team, supporting the researchers across all the PAPAGAIO sites and projects. They will be responsible for assisting in the coordination, delivery and conduct of the PAPAGAIO programme. They will be responsible for supporting the delivery of high-quality research, through programme administration and organisation, donor reporting, monitoring and evaluation, and budget reporting, whilst also building and maintaining relationships with international partners.
Working for our organisation
As the only NHS Trust in London with women’s and specialist children’s services on one site we have unique opportunities to provide excellent, high-quality, integrated care for mothers, babies and children. Our directorate provides high quality care to patients across South East London, as well as delivering a range of specialist services both nationally and internationally.Alongside our clinical services, we are integrated with colleagues at Kings College London, delivering a significant programme of research and development.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Coordination, Administration and Management- Providing research administrative support, including organising, and attending meetings, capturing, filing and sharing minutes and maintaining logs.
- Prepare and circulate a monthly PAPAGAIO newsletter
- Assist with preparing content for the PAPAGAIO website.
- Assist with drafting progress reports for the funder.
- Assist in ensuring that all sites maintain up to date investigator files.
- Track training and development activities conducted by the programme through the development of a training database.
- Be responsible for the ordering and delivery of equipment and consumables to sites, track and maintain an inventory of consumables and equipment
- Assist in coordinating community engagement activities across the sites.
- Maintaining close working relationships with the overseas research teams and other stakeholders at PAPAGAIO sites and partner organisations.
- Assist in the recruitment of new staff when needed.
- Ensure all research staff have up to date Good Clinical Practice training.
- Deliver training to data collection teams
- Collate names and contact details of all team members, updating all relevant databases and mailing lists.
- Assist in creating fieldwork materials, for example developing data collection tools, topic guides, questionnaires, and surveys.
- Conduct literature reviews and database searches.
- Data cleaning and management
- Assist in preparing and editing accessible, plain language briefings aimed at policymakers, health care providers and other non-academic stakeholders.
- Contribute to the production of research reports and publications in high impact academic, conferences and other forms of dissemination that lead to impact, as appropriate.
- Comply with national and Trust standards for the safe, secure, and confidential processing and storage of information.
- Comply with the department’s procedural policy on data sharing and data theft conferences and other forms of dissemination that lead to impact, as appropriate.
- Take responsibility for managing (organisation and prioritisation) of own workload to ensure timely delivery of projects.
- Participate in courses, conferences and other activities associated with personal and professional development.
- Support capacity building within the team and prioritises it in yourself.
- Undertake any other duties that may be requested by the coordinating PAPAGAIO teams, that are commensurate with the role.
Person specification
Qualifications and Education
Essential criteria- BSc or other undergraduate qualification awarded in Public Health, Epidemiology, Social Science, or related health discipline.
- Track record of significant continuous professional and management development
- MSc awarded in Public Health, Epidemiology, Social Science, or related health discipline.
Previous experience
Essential criteria- Experience working as part of a busy multi-disciplinary team.
- Experience providing either administrative or research support.
- Experience in a global health setting, particularly related to maternal and perinatal health.
- Practical experience of conducting research
- Project management experience
Skills/ Knowledge/ Ability
Essential criteria- Excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to work with a wide range of people
- Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication
- Strong IT skills, especially MS Office software (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams).
- Understanding of preeclampsia and its management
- Knowledge of Health delivery in a low-resource context.
- Skills in data analysis software such as Stata, SPSS, R and NVIVO.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service.We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
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