Project Support Officer | Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 3, Project Support Officer to join the research team at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust supporting NIHR portfolio studies. This is a permanent opportunity. The successful candidate will work with a team including a research nurses, clinicians, and academic staff at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Thepurposeof thispostistoprovidecomprehensivesupport for research studies.Theassistantwill be expectedto perform avarietyof clerical/research dutieswithin a research environment and insuch a way as to make a direct and positive contribution to the organisation of the work within the RDI Department. The successful candidate will work with a team including a research nurses, clinicians, and academic staff at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. At the moment there are a number of research studies being conducted at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Cross site working, between Whiston, St Helens Hospital is essential and Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals when required.

• Provide administrative and study support for research studies
• Work closely with Research Nurses, PIs and research teams throughout the duration of a study to facilitate study progress, identifying barriers to successful recruitment and reporting these to RDI Data Manager.
• Be point of contact for internal personnel and external organisations, resolving most queries independently or referring on to the most appropriate member of staff as appropriate.
• Collect patient data from medical notes and complete both electronic and paper case report forms (CRF's), liaising with Research Nurse and clinicians to ensure correct data collection. Take responsibility for quality control, checking validity and completeness of the data.
• Submit requested data to the Trial Centres, ensuring that all data is validated by the Research Nurse (when required) and that all data is processed, accurate and delivered within their target dates.
• Liaise with all other departments within the hospital, i.e. wards, medical outpatient departments, medical records etc. with regard to all aspects of patient care, e.g. Appointments, investigations etc., Provide administrative and study support for research studies
• Work closely with Research Nurses, PIs and research teams throughout the duration of a study to facilitate study progress, identifying barriers to successful recruitment and reporting these to RDI Data Manager.
• Be point of contact for internal personnel and external organisations, resolving most queries independently or referring on to the most appropriate member of staff as appropriate.
• Collect patient data from medical notes and complete both electronic and paper case report forms (CRF's), liaising with Research Nurse and clinicians to ensure correct data collection. Take responsibility for quality control, checking validity and completeness of the data.
• Submit requested data to the Trial Centres, ensuring that all data is validated by the Research Nurse (when required) and that all data is processed, accurate and delivered within their target dates.
• Liaise with all other departments within the hospital, i.e. wards, medical outpatient departments, medical records etc. with regard to all aspects of patient care, e.g. Appointments, investigations etc.
• To work on a daily basis with minimal supervision as part of the RDI team at Whiston Hospital, you may be required to work in other locations around MWL.
• Retrieve patient data/medical records, investigation reports, etc.
• Take action to obtain or correct missing or contradictory data while maintaining confidentiality.
• Record/report patient recruitment on EDGE
• Scan research documentation into EDMS
• Support the Research Nurse in processing amendments for study site files, ensuring that appropriate approvals have been obtained, with support services being notified of any changes relevant to their area, and superseding all previous documentation
• Contact research participants to arrange appointments with Investigator/Research Nurse as and when required by Research Nurses/Principal Investigators.
• Create study specific screening/recruitment logs and ensure data uploaded by researcher/nurse on a regular basis.
• Assist with close out of studies, including reporting, close out checklist and arranging appropriate archiving of documentation.
• Arrange completion of Progress Reports/updates for reporting to RDI Support Officer as required.
• Service formal meetings when required ensuring adequate facilities are booked in advance, IT Training, and refreshments. Prepare/distribute agendas in good time, produce accurate and timely minutes, record actions and progress through to completion.
• Attend regular team meetings and provide regular updates and progress reports.
• General office duties, including taking documents for signature, scanning, photocopying and maintenance of efficient filing systems.
• Receive and redistribute stationery orders and supplies - logging items received and reporting discrepancies.
• Deliver prescriptions to pharmacy and collect trial medication.
• Collect process (including centrifugation, freezing, handling of dry ice) and arrange shipping of biological specimens according to protocol requirements.
• Co-ordinate courier collections for blood samples and documents.
• Undertake any other duties deemed relevant to the post and grade.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
• Adhere to the RDI Standard Operating Procedures
• Adhere to European Clinical Trials Directive, GCP (certificate renewal every 2 years), attending new training when certificate is due for renewal.
• Adhere to the UK Policy Framework for Health and Social Care Research.
• Demonstrate a continuous process of professional and personal development and maintain a high level of knowledge concerning research.
ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES
• To ensure that a system is in place to track and respond to correspondence in a timely manner.
• Be responsible for ensuring accurate and timely compliance with internal and external requests for information e.g. clinical trials teams, and sponsors.
• To maintain e-mail and diary management to ensure the smooth running of the department e.g. correspondence with trial centres, planning patient appointments, follow up of care and liaise with the Research Nurses., To maintain a level of training and competency commensurate for the role according to Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
• Participate in an annual individual performance review.
• To conform to established policies, codes of practice and Standard Operating Procedures within the Department.
• To adhere to all established Trust policies and to adhere to all current legislation and DH guidelines.
• Attend regular team meetings and provide regular updates and progress reports
• Demonstrate a continuous process of professional and personal development and maintain a high level of knowledge concerning clinical research.
  
  Disability Confident
About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care. Our Services: Acute Care Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites. Primary Care Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital. Community Services Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre. Specialist Regional Services We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales. Achievements:
• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme