Research Assistant

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We deliver specialist services in the London boroughs of Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Wandsworth and Richmond.

We are committed to provide a high quality and specialist care to our service users and we are recognised for our care and treatment we provide. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

The trust recognises the unique and valuable contribution that people with lived experience of mental illness can bring to a role. We therefore welcome applications from people with lived experience and consider them as an asset to the Trust.

Our Values

We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values and our promise to be caring, kind, polite, prompt, honest, listen and do what I say I’m going to do is at the heart of everything we do. When you join us, you’ll be part of something special.

As a Trust we are happy to talk flexible working.

Job overview

Imagine if the work you did today could impact on how mental health care is delivered tomorrow. An exciting opportunity has arisen join the Research and Development (R&D) Team at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

The portfolio of studies makes this role challenging and rewarding for the right candidate.

As a member of staff from within the Trust, you will understand the clinical priorities and structures of teams and use this knowledge and skills to reach out to service users to discuss involvement in study participation. In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge about research through supporting our strategic ambitions to build research capacity in our workforce.

For further details / informal discussions contact:

Name – Carrie – Ann Black

Job title – Head of Nursing for Research and Quality

Email address – [email protected]

• Carry out planned care required by the clinical trials protocol for patients and volunteers without direct supervision
• Responsible for screening and recruiting to clinical studies. This includes both randomised clinical trials and other high quality clinical studies. The role will involve working closely with multidisciplinary clinical teams
• To support patients to make informed choices concerning their involvement in research.
• Ensure that written informed consent from a participant has always been obtained for any research taking place within the Trust.
• Maintain all data and case report forms relating to clinical trials in accordance with the regulatory and governance environment for NHS research.
• Report any deviation on research protocols to senior staff and implement agreed changes in care programme.
• To support studies that the R&D team identify require additional recruitment support
• As part of the Research and Delivery Team, you will also be expected to support the Bethlem Virtual Reality Cave.

Working for our organisation

About us

Benefits:

It's important to us that you valued and appreciated and that are why we have a comprehensive benefits package on offer

Some of our benefits are highlighted here:

• Generous pay, pensions and leave,we offer a comprehensive pay, pensions and leave package which is dependent on the role and length of service.
• Work life balance,flexible working and support a range of flexible options, such as: part-time working and job sharing.
• Career development,There are plenty of opportunities to progress your career and we support your development through a number of programmes such as mentoring, coaching, positive people management, collective leadership and other talent programmes
• Car lease,our staff benefits from competitive deals to lease cars
• Accommodation,our staff benefits fromkeyworker housing available which is available on selected sites
• NHS discounts,with discounts up to 10% from a variety of well-known retail brands though Health Service Discounts website.

Other benefits include:

• Counselling services
• Wellbeing events
• Long service awards
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Childcare vouchers
• Staff restaurants

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical:

• Carry out planned care required by the clinical trials protocol for patients and volunteers without direct supervision
• Responsible for screening and recruiting to clinical studies. This includes both randomised clinical trials and other high quality clinical studies. The role will involve working closely with multidisciplinary clinical teams
• To support patients to make informed choices concerning their involvement in research.
• Ensure that written informed consent from a participant has always been obtained for any research taking place within the Trust.
• Maintain all data and case report forms relating to clinical trials in accordance with the regulatory and governance environment for NHS research.
• Report any deviation on research protocols to senior staff and implement agreed changes in care programme.
• To support studies that the R&D team identify require additional recruitment support
• As part of the Research and Delivery Team, you will also be expected to support the Bethlem Virtual Reality Cave.

Management:

• Required to use own initiative, take responsibility for decision-making and prioritise own workload within a team and individual context.
• Works autonomously within the boundaries of own competencies and capabilities, seeking advice from Principal Investigator/ study team/R&D team as necessary.

Administration:

• Maintain a safe environment in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act.
• Assist in ensuring the availability of resources for participant care.
• Maintain accurate documentation in clinical trial documents and patient notes and comply with Trust policies and procedures.
• Ensure that clinical trials are effectively archived as required.
• Communicate effectively at all times and maintain a harmonious working environment.
• Ensure the economical use of resources.

Education and Training:

• Assist in the education and support of health care professionals to enable them to care for clinical trial patients and recruit to clinical trials where appropriate.
• Maintain an up—to-date knowledge of research related topics, particularly related to clinical trials.
• Assess the needs of participants, relatives and carers and provide them with information as requested.
• Educate participants, family and those who volunteer for clinical trials before, during and after clinical studies and investigations.
• Assist the R&D Nurse Manager in orientating all new staff to the department.

Other:

• Understand and adhere to Trust policies and procedures.
• Maintain patient confidentiality and standards of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) at all times.
• There will be an expectation to work across Trust hospital sites and boroughs where appropriate.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Degree qualification in relevant health sciences (e.g. psychology or sociology) (A)
• Completion of GCP training in the last 2 years (A)
• Clinical Research Practitioner Registration or working towards Registration (A)

• A degree or diploma with a substantial research component (A)
• Higher degree/formal study of research design and methods in clinical or social settings (A)

Experience

• Previous experience of working as part of a research team on NIHR Portfolio Studies and/or Commercial Clinical trials (A/I)
• Knowledge of and clinical experience working within a mental health service (A/I)
• Experience of data management and adherence to study protocols, including lone working (A/I)
• Experience of conducting PPI and public engagement activities (A/I)
• Experience conducting research at a clinical interface or within a randomised controlled trial (A/I)

• Current or recent experience of working with people with Serious Mental Illness (A)
• Experience of conducting a systematic literature review including experience of using quality appraisal tools (A)
• Experience in administering psychometric scales or willingness to train (A)

Knowledge/Skills

• Familiar with CONSORT Guidelines for reporting clinical trials (A/I)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. (A/I)
• Familiar with the Intervention Fidelity (IF) framework for the RCTs (A/I)
• Highly motivated with the ability to work as part of a team and on an individual basis. (A/I)
• Knowledge of research methods and statistical procedures (A/I)
• Understands the research process and the application of research in the clinical governance agenda. (A/I)
• Competence in standard PC packages (Word, Excel). (A/I)

• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning (A/I)
• Completing and scoring of research rating scales (A/I)

Other

• Enthusiastic and dedicated to working towards organisational change to achieve our research and develop strategic ambitions (A/I)
• Working in a mobile/agile way (A/I)
• Transparency and honesty (A/I)

The Trust is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and that promote equality of opportunity. We are a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applicants from all sections of the community and people of all protected characteristics. We provide reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability and are committed to treating people fairly with compassion, respect and dignity and in promoting equality and human rights. We aim to put this commitment into practice by:

• Embedding our commitment to tackling inequality, eliminating discrimination and harassment; promoting equality of opportunity and fostering good relations in our everyday practice
• Ensuring that all our services and all staff understand and support our commitment
• We believe that people who use our services, their carers and our staff, should be treated with compassion, respect and dignity

Please note:

• That all applications for this post will need to be made online
• That you read and understand the Job Description and Personal Specification attached to the role. Your Statement in Support should reflect the requirements specified as your application will be judged against these criteria
• That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received. We advise that you submit your application as early as possible
• That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3rd party e-recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs
• That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
• That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
• That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
• That we are a smoke-free Trust

SLaM is a Stonewall Diversity Champion , Stonewall is the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans (LGBT) rights charity in Europe’