Research Support Assistant

Job summary

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to appoint a Research Support Assistant in Mental Health Research, to work in close partnership with the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research at Lancaster University, in the delivery of an NIHR funded trial Mouth Matters in Mental Health Study.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust is a large health and wellbeing Trust employing over 7000 staff and serving a population across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System. The Trust provides inpatient and community specialist Mental Health services to children and young people, adults and older adults and also delivers forensic mental health services. Additionally, the Trust provides a range of physical health care community services and children's services.

The Trust delivers a wide portfolio of high quality research and is supporting this important study. People with severe mental health difficulties often experience poor oral health and find it difficult to attend the dentist. This project aims to improve access to dental services in people with severe mental health difficulties.

Main duties of the job

The post starts in April 2026. The successful applicant will lead on recruitment and data collection for a trial. This will involve liaising with clinical teams, meeting potential participants, conducting clinical assessments (e.g. interviews, self-report measures) and managing data. The post-holder will receive clinical supervision and training from experienced clinical academics (e.g. Clinical Psychologists) working in the field of mental health research.

All research through Spectrum is conducted with people with lived experience to ensure that it is focused on priorities relevant to them. The Spectrum team takes an active approach to implementation to influence practices through working at national policy levels as well as training clinicians. See https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-and-medicine/research/spectrum/

You must have at least a degree level qualification in a relevant discipline and knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research designs including clinical trial designs with recruitment and retention targets. You will need to be competent in data collection and both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Experience of working collaboratively in clinical trial management with large multi-disciplinary research teams, and service users/relatives, clinicians and service providers, would be a definite advantage. We are looking for an energetic dynamic, self-directed and committed individual with an interest in becoming a key part of our research team.

About us

LSCFT values diversity and inclusion, recognising that talent from varied backgrounds creates a flexible, creative, and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from all, regardless of age, disability (including those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

Our aim is to reflect the communities we serve, so we particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups. If you'd like to discuss your application, please ask.

We also welcome individuals with lived experience relevant to the role or service area, as your insight brings authenticity to our services.

LSCFT support flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as term time, part time, compressed hours and flexi-time.

Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Lantern Centre/Spectrum Centre, Lancaster University

Preston

PR2 8DW

Employer's website

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

---

Employer details

Employer name

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Lantern Centre/Spectrum Centre, Lancaster University

Preston

PR2 8DW

Employer's website

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

---