An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the primary care delivery team in the CRN West Midlands as a Research Facilitator Assistant. The Team is responsible for the set-up, feasibility, performance and delivery of the NIHR Clinical Research portfolio across the region.

This is a role for aspiring Research Facilitator Assistants. They should demonstrate excellent project and research management skills and have highly developed communication and interpersonal skills. They will ensure that the CRN West Midlands Primary Care team provides a high quality service in line with continuous improvement methodologies in order to ensure effective delivery of the critical business operations of the network.

The Research Facilitator Assistant will support the facilitation of the set-up, running and recruitment of patients into clinical trials and research projects in primary care that are adopted by the Clinical Research Network (CRN) on the NIHR CRN portfolio. They will act as a contact between the CRN and local research stakeholders including academic institutions, Integrated Care Boards, Primary Care Networks, General Practices and other primary care health providers in the area.

The post requires the post holder to predominantly cover a specific geographical area within the CRN WM Coventry & Warwickshire, Herefordshire & Worcestershire however may be required to cover the whole area as required and must be prepared to travel throughout the West Midlands for meetings as required.

Main duties of the job

To work with general practices and other health and care providers within the West Midlands to encourage them to participate in research and work with the NIHR CRN West Midlands in the delivery of CRN portfolio studies To develop good working relationships with research active and research interested GP/ PCN / healthcare staff to ensure the continued success of the delivery of CRN portfolio studies To communicate effectively across a wide range of audiences, and liaise, establish and maintain positive links with external agencies/providers To maintain accurate records and information relating to research activity.To offer appropriate research studies and provide support with feasibility and set up procedures for the study To support in the interpretation of research protocols/develop search strategies/ study materials, support study teams by giving in-depth advice on practice profiles to aid recruitment strategies To prepare reports and supply data as requested.Acting as a link between the study teams and the GPs and other primary care sites by facilitating meetings for the set-up of a study To support NHS staff in participating centres in the conduct of the trial, answering their queries, assisting with problems, helping to set up systems to allow recruitment/data collection in each centre and feeding back information on the progress of the trial To review recruitment in participating centres and assist local NHS staff in overcoming any issues and take action as appropriate.

About us

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the West Midlands providing primary, acute and community services and we are incredibly proud of the diversity of both our staff and the communities we serve. We are building a workforce that can help us to fulfil our values, improve quality of care for patients, and solve the health care problems of tomorrow. We're passionate about the value that diversity of thinking and lived experience brings in enabling us to become a learning organisation and leader in delivering compassionate care for our patients.We are delighted that we have been rated as Good by CQC. We have achieved numerous awards The Nursing Times Best Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff in 2020.The Trust is a supportive working environment committed to creating flexible working arrangements that suit your needs and as such will consider all requests from applicants who wish to work flexibly.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Study delivery and facilitation

To work with general practices and other health and care providers within the West Midlands to encourage them to participate in research and work with the NIHR CRN West Midlands in the delivery of CRN portfolio studies

To develop good working relationships with research active and research interested GPs, PCNs and healthcare staff to ensure the continued success of the delivery of CRN portfolio studies

To communicate effectively across a wide range of audiences, and liaise, establish and maintain positive links with external agencies and providers

To maintain accurate records and information relating to research activity as required

To offer appropriate research studies and provide support with feasibility and set up procedures for the study

To support in the interpretation of research protocols and develop search strategies and study materials (such as the Research Information Sheet for Practices: RISP) if appropriate, support study teams by giving in-depth advice on practice profiles to aid recruitment strategies

To prepare reports and supply data as requested by the Research Manager / CRSL regarding research activity

Acting as a link between the study teams and the GPs and other primary care sites by facilitating meetings for the set-up of a study

To support NHS staff in participating centres in the conduct of the trial, being available to answer their queries, assisting with any problems, helping to set up systems to allow recruitment and data collection in each centre and feeding back information on the progress of the trial

To review recruitment in participating centres, communicate them to the relevant Research Facilitator and assist local NHS staff in overcoming any issues and take action as appropriate.

To support the development of appropriate recruitment strategies for identified research projects, undertake record searches, install and use identification software to aid with patient identification including the use of Docmail to send out patient invitation letters

To be aware of and promote the delivery of NIHR Performance Standards

To support the process of developing and providing appropriate monitoring / action plans for GPsso they can deliver to NIHR or Department of Health and Social Care Objectives

Regulatory Compliance and Research Management

To be working towards a specialist knowledge to provide appropriate advice on all areas of the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care including regulatory approval and regulations

To be working towards an excellent knowledge and be able to advise researchers on the Integrated Research Application System (IRAS), support the HRA Assess, Arrange and Confirm (AAC) process and other related Research Support Service functions as required

To have a working knowledge and understanding of the Attributing the costs of health and social care Research & Development (AcoRD) guidance and ensure research activities have been appropriately identified and attributed

• Communication, Training and Education

To support General Practices to undertake the Royal College of GPs Research Ready accreditation and feedback information from these assessments

Actively support and participate in training in Good Clinical Practice, Fundamentals training, relevant research governance training, and study specific training where appropriate

To maintain professional awareness of issues that impact on undertaking research in primary care

To liaise as part of the wider West Midlands strategy with the local lay community to ensure public involvement

To be part of the Primary Care delivery team in raising awareness in primary care of the CRN infrastructure and systems by developing and disseminating up to date information electronically, by mail and in person via presentations or posters at meetings and conferences

To be responsible for maintaining and participating in effective and efficient communication links with all Partner Organisations

To contribute to newsletters, articles, research seminars and general marketing material in relations to Research Delivery

Provide support and advice to Primary Care Networks to enable them to set up infrastructure to participate in research at a Network level

Provide support and advice to newly emerging models of Primary Care delivery for example, Vertically Integrated Practices, to allow them to continue to participate in Primary Care research whilst part of the Trust. Providing training and system development support as needed.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Good standard of education to minimum of GCSE (English at grade C or above)

Desirable

• Relevant first degree or equivalent experience

Experience/Skills

Essential

• Experience of working in NHS or similar organisation in a research capacity
• Proven record of planning, organisational and administration skills
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Windows and MS Office applications e.g. Word, Excel, Access

Desirable

• Experience of developing and administration of IT data capture systems
• Able to analyse data and deal with problems with little input

Communication

Essential

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Employer details

Employer name

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

Address

Warwick Medical School

Coventry

CV4 7AL

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

225-CORP-5832793