Job Descrption
Job Overview
The Psycho-oncology team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is seeking to appoint a highly motivated Research Assistant Psychologist for our new RM Partners, NW & SW London Cancer Alliance funded project exploring the lived impact of COVID-19 in people with haematological malignancies (blood cancer). The main duties of the role will be to assist the Chief Investigator in the project setup and day to day running across seven London-based hospital sites.
The ideal candidate will have a Psychology BSc/BA degree (high 2.1 or above). We are looking for somebody who has strong IT skills & is detailed focussed. They will be required to work flexibly and collaboratively as part of a hybrid-working team. They will need good communication skills and be actively responsive to the needs of the project. This post may suit somebody who is seeking their first Research Assistant Psychologist role who is keen to develop further skills and knowledge of research methods and... techniques. This role will not offer opportunities for conducting assessments or therapy.
We encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants.
Main duties of the job
• To provide day to day coordination and ensure the effective running of the project, including patient communication, data & outcomes, presentations and support with report writing, etc.
• To demonstrate a high level of communication and interpersonal skills in relating to a wide range of NHS staff, patients and external agencies
• Maintaining data & IT/administrative systems to deal efficiently with project workflows, the organisation, storage and relay of information, etc.
• Develop knowledge and understanding of the psycho-social impact of cancer within the patient population.
Working for our organisation
The postholder will be based at Charing Cross Hospital however there will be cross London travel to all project sites as part of promotion and routine project maintenance. The post holder will report to the project lead, senior team colleagues and steering groups incl. patient representatives and clinical experts.
The role will involve regular liaison with clinicians in cancer and other health & social care services, within and outside the seven project sites ICHT, St Barts, Royal Marsden, UCLH, St Georges, Hillingdon Hospital and the Royal Marsden.
The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
• *IMPORTANT NOTE**
Due to high expected volume of applicants, you will need to demonstrate in your supporting statement how you meet the essential criteria as specified in the Person Specification document. For our initial screening stage, we will read only the first TWENTY LINES of your “Supporting Information”, which must be laid out as follows
The first ten of the Essential Criteria in Person Specification Document are marked with an asterisk (*).
At the beginning of your “Supporting Information” you must provide succinct evidence to show how you meet each of these ten criteria. You should detail this in bullet point form. Refer to each criterion by number, start a new line for each criterion, and use no more than TWENTY LINES in total.
Wherever possible, please give an example of something that you have done which illustrates how you have applied or acquired the skill or quality.
Space limitations will not permit you to list all your relevant experience, so you will need to choose the examples that best demonstrate that you meet each criterion.
We will use this information for initial short listing. If your application is included in this initial shortlist, the rest of your form will then be read thoroughly, including any other text that you have included in your “Supporting Information”, in order to shortlist further for interview.
If this is not present your application will not pass the initial screening before being read in full.
General Duties
• Coordinate and manage administrative work and operational procedures to support the project, including scheduling meetings and appointments, gathering and entering data, developing materials and presentations.
• To keep ongoing records of the progress of the project and to contribute to the monitoring and reporting system set out by the project funders.
• Travel and work from offices and clinics across all project sites and any relevant community locations as necessary.
• Work collaboratively and with the guidance of the senior members of the project team, project leads and supervisors, to achieve the project aims.
• Sustain an appropriate level of autonomy, responsibility and initiative to fulfil the role requirements.
Project Specific Duties
• To prepare materials for quantitative and qualitative measures relevant to the objectives of the research
• To manage the quantitative data collection and analysis with input from Chief Investigator and members of the external supervisory team.
• To arrange semi-clinical interviews with patients to gather data and outcomes (Telephone and Microsoft Teams)
• To prepare transcripts of the interviews and to assist in analysing the transcripts including the development of coding structures and themes in line with the theoretical methods of the chosen qualitative approach.
• To contribute to a report summarising the study findings and recommendations for research to follow.
• To undertake a scoping review with the support of the Chief Investigator Psychologist and senior members of project team and to assist with the write up to a standard suitable for publication.
Communication and Conduct
• To liaise with and promote the studies to haematology MDTs across all study sites
• To participate fully as a team member, sharing ideas, knowledge & information and supporting colleagues, to promote a cohesive team and the achievement of team objectives.
• To communicate in a sensitive manner ensuring potential participants’ queries and concerns are addressed
• To work following guidelines and the policies and procedures of the service, while closely supervised and regularly seeking help from clinical/professional supervisors or managers.
Record Keeping, Information Systems & Information Governance
• To manage and maintain day to day running of project IT systems including the Microsoft Teams survey platform
• To maintain and ensure information is up to date on all project databases.
• Under the supervision of the practitioner psychologist to maintain the highest standards of record keeping and report writing, according to professional and Trust guidelines, including electronic data entry
• To ensure that all information generated by own work is recorded as required by Trust policies and local procedures.
Person specification
Qualifications And Professional Registration
Essential criteria
• A First-class or Upper-second-class Bachelors degree with Honours in Psychology that is accredited by the British Psychological Society and confers the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society*
Desirable criteria
• Further CPD / postgraduate training relevant to health, mental health or social care
Knowledge
Essential criteria
• Graduate level knowledge of psychological research methodology
• Graduate level knowledge of common statistical analysis software (e.g. IMB SPSS) and qualitative analysis software (e.g. ATLAS)
• Awareness of racial and diversity issues through attendance of relevant training
Experience
Essential criteria
• Experience of conducting research projects or audits
• Experience conducting semi-clinical interviews, being able to adapt appropriately to the tone and content brought by patients
• Experience that supports working with, and addressing issues of, diversity within local communities. This may have been gained through work, research, volunteering and / or lived experience
Desirable criteria
• Experience of work in medical settings
Skills
Essential criteria
• Well-developed verbal and written communication skills including communicating complex, information to colleague
• Well-developed IT skills including entry and analysis of research data
Desirable criteria
• High standard of record keeping and report writing.
Abilities
Essential criteria
• Ability to work effectively and flexibly with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals
• Ability to identify and follow relevant clinical governance procedures.
• Ability to be in the presence of emotionally stressful situations (e.g. be present during patient recounting of distressing events).
Desirable criteria
• An interest in health psychology or psycho-oncology
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