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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Research Assistant, Safe Paths

The closing date is 07 October 2025

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Job summary

The postholder will support the delivery of a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded project, titled 'Improving Access and Care for South Asians with Psychosis' (SAFE PATHS). The primary objective of the SAFE PATHS study is to develop community and intersectoral partnerships to promote involvement in mental health research for people from South Asian backgrounds.

The postholder will collect data for the SAFE PATHS study using semi-structured interviews and will lead qualitative analysis of data obtained.

The postholder will also lead in all aspects of conducting a systematic review involving running thorough searches, selecting relevant studies, extracting data, assessing study quality, synthesizing results, and reporting findings. Full training will be provided.

The postholder will be based at Maghull Health Park, Liverpool working alongside the research and innovation team and will hold an honorary contract at the University of Manchester to work alongside the Chief Investigator at the University of Manchester.

The postholder will work collaboratively and be supported by the clinic's Chief Investigator, Psychiatry Lead and research and innovation staff to assist with the successful completion of individual research projects within the research study.

The successful applicant will be accountable for ensuring that the research undertaken safeguards the well-being of the patients and is conducted within ICH Good Clinical Practice Guidelines for Research.

Main duties of the job

Recruiting participants for the SAFE PATHS study ensuring correct consent procedures and liaising with stakeholders where appropriate.

Arranging and facilitating community awareness workshops in collaboration with charity partners and the study team.

Supporting patient and public participants and the PPI lead in co-designing patient-mediated resources for research participation among British South Asian groups.

Collecting data using semi-structured interviews and analysing data with the wider study team, preparation of reports for funders and for academic publication.

Leading aspects of conducting a systematic review involving running thorough searches, selecting relevant studies.

Extracting data, assessing study quality, synthesizing results, and reporting findings.

Maintaining good working relationships with service users, carers, healthcare.

staff and other stakeholders will be key to the success of the role.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Details

Date posted

01 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year pro rata, per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

18 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

350-TWS7354567-B

Job locations

Indigo Building

Maghull Health Park

Maghull,

L31 1HW


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further details of this role or contact the recruiting manager for more information.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further details of this role or contact the recruiting manager for more information.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A degree (2:1 or above) in psychology/ social sciences or related discipline.

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

  • Good awareness of a range of different mental illnesses.
  • Familiarity with undertaking structured and semi- structured interviewing.
  • Understanding of research governance and ethics.

Desirable

  • Familiarity with a range of research methods.
  • Experience of engaging different demographic groups in research.
  • Experience of working with people with mental health difficulties.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to interview and perform assessments with service users in a safe, sympathetic and courteous manner.
  • Able to respond sensitively to emotional distress.
  • Be aware of stigma & discrimination of persons with mental health difficulties.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of confidentiality issues.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of patient and staff safety issues.
  • Ability to converse with internal & external services & able to accept & convey telephone messages in a precise & courteous manner.
  • Clear & unambiguous written communication skills.
  • Organisational & prioritisation skills.
  • Excellent data entry skills.
  • Ability to use Microsoft Word to produce reports.
  • Ability to file effectively.
  • Sufficiently adaptable to learn and use new technology.
  • Ability to travel independently of the public transport system.
  • Willingness to adapt working hours to match the needs of the project.
  • Requirement to travel to various sites/ locations across the NW region, therefore you must have the means to travel to these sites in a timely manner.

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • A degree (2:1 or above) in psychology/ social sciences or related discipline.

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

  • Good awareness of a range of different mental illnesses.
  • Familiarity with undertaking structured and semi- structured interviewing.
  • Understanding of research governance and ethics.

Desirable

  • Familiarity with a range of research methods.
  • Experience of engaging different demographic groups in research.
  • Experience of working with people with mental health difficulties.

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to interview and perform assessments with service users in a safe, sympathetic and courteous manner.
  • Able to respond sensitively to emotional distress.
  • Be aware of stigma & discrimination of persons with mental health difficulties.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of confidentiality issues.
  • Demonstrable knowledge of patient and staff safety issues.
  • Ability to converse with internal & external services & able to accept & convey telephone messages in a precise & courteous manner.
  • Clear & unambiguous written communication skills.
  • Organisational & prioritisation skills.
  • Excellent data entry skills.
  • Ability to use Microsoft Word to produce reports.
  • Ability to file effectively.
  • Sufficiently adaptable to learn and use new technology.
  • Ability to travel independently of the public transport system.
  • Willingness to adapt working hours to match the needs of the project.
  • Requirement to travel to various sites/ locations across the NW region, therefore you must have the means to travel to these sites in a timely manner.

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Indigo Building

Maghull Health Park

Maghull,

L31 1HW


Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Indigo Building

Maghull Health Park

Maghull,

L31 1HW


Employer's website

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Associate Director for Research & Innovation

Dr Inti Qurashi

lesley.bromilow@merseycare.nhs.uk

01514301321

Details

Date posted

01 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year pro rata, per annum

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

18 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

350-TWS7354567-B

Job locations

Indigo Building

Maghull Health Park

Maghull,

L31 1HW


Supporting documents

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