An exciting opportunity has come up within R&D to act as a link between R&D and Radiology to facilitate our growing portfolio of clinical trials.
Our Research Radiographer role is intended to support management and delivery of our research activities that require diagnostic imaging. They will work closely with our research team, clinical colleagues, and any other teams (e.g. Medical Physics) to facilitate planning and provision of imaging required to support research trials. This will require familiarity with relevant processes and documentation in order communicate the requirements to all relevant parties.
The ideal candidate will require an ability to plan, organise and facilitate a wide of clinical trials across a diverse number of disease sites working closely with a large number of key stake holders.
- Ensure effective communication and collaboration between the Research and Radiology teams to ensure timely, effective set up and delivery of research activity requiring diagnostic imaging
- Be familiar with and understand relevant research documentation and effectively communicate requirements to relevant teams, negotiating with modality leads as required
- Provide information, advice and guidance on any aspect of research activities to Radiology team members and to members of the research team in relation to imaging processes
- Promote and encourage good and effective professional practices in the department by example and instruction
Research and Development has recently grown and is looking for a new team member that can help us develop.
Team work has been a key part to the success of our R&D department and is something that will be integral to the future of our research team.
Working together we ensure everyone is supported/listened to so that a high work ethic across the team can be maintained.
The better we work together the more trials we can offer to the patients of Torbay
Why Work With Us
The post holder will be a registered radiographer with excellent interpersonal skills who is able to liaise and collaborate with key stakeholders across all imaging modalities within radiology. Their key responsibility is to ensure a timely setup of clinical trials. This involves attention to detail and a robust understanding of how standard of care imaging across our specialities can differ from that defined within trial protocols. A key part of the role is negotiating any such differences and leading pragmatic solutions to them to facilitate the opening of trials.
The post holder will also hold an existing matched job description relating to the modality area that they work in. This could be CT, MRI, Ultrasound, X-ray or Nuclear Medicine, based on existing experience; this is not a training role as clinical time is insufficient to allow this.
If the post holder is a clinical Radiographer who does not also hold a clinical role in TSDFT and they intend to maintain registration it is expected that they will have clinical sessions built into their role.
Communication and working relationships
- Communicate effectively with all levels of Trust staff and any external persons where the role requires this.
- Work closely with the lead Research Radiologists to ensure timely review and sign-off of trial protocols and manuals, regularly updating R&D on progress and highlighting any delays or operational issues
- Collaborative and flexible team working are essential. The post holder may in some circumstances, be required to supervise junior research staff, radiography staff, student radiographers, assistant practitioners and liaise with all appropriate Trust and external staff.
- Facilitate communication between radiology and research teams to promote sharing of best practices with the objective of improving the general quality of research and compliance level within the Trust.
- Attend relevant R&D team meetings.
- Pro-actively support and participate within a multidisciplinary team to ensure an effective, efficient delivery of service in order to maintain departmental quality standards and to participate in and actively represent research in clinical meetings and with those multi-disciplinary teams.
- Liaise with relevant research department representatives to ensure their support and involvement in any new policies and systems.
- Ensure that queries from external stakeholders are answered in a timely manner by the appropriate research team member.
- Work in collaboration with Radiology, R&D and Medical Physics staff to provide a comprehensive, effective and safe service.
- Support training activities for staff and trainees in the Radiology department.
Analytical and judgement
- Be familiar with documentation associated to research trials, translating, applying and communicating relevant parts to the teams involved.
- Monitor research related incidents for trends and identify any changes necessary to working practice. Assist in the development and implementation of working practice as necessary ensuring appropriate communication and training required is performed.
- Identifying and communicate issues in delivering research imaging within radiology.
Planning and organisation
- Plan, assess, deliver and evaluate the workload in close liaison with the Research Radiology leads and Research lead.
- Assist in the setup, implementation and review of governance systems related to clinical practice associated with research trials undertaken within radiology.
- Ensure that imaging schedules and protocols for all radiology research trials and those trials requiring radiology services are appropriate and communicated as required to clinical teams.
- Monitor and report on research activity and the potential demand on the services, communicating outcomes to Radiology and research leads.
Physical skills
- Accurate and efficient IT and keyboard skills
- Dexterity and concentration skills for long periods of time
- Highly developed physical skills where accuracy is important
Patient and client care
- Provides clinical technical services within sphere of own role
Policy and service development
- Assist researchers in planning new clinical trials involving radiology; to ensure that all aspects of the relevant regulations have been considered and provide advice on development of protocol and associated documents and specific guidance on safety reporting requirements.
- Assist in the development and implementation of processes and Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that studies are performed in adherence to the relevant regulations and legislation.
- The postholder should have a good awareness of Radiology related regulations and be able to provide or seek access expert interpretation in order to advise the R&D. They will be expected to develop sufficient understanding of non-radiology specific research regulatory aspects in order to support R&D activity effectively.
- Support development, review and update of radiology-specific Standard Operating Procedures and Document Templates for use within R&D and for use by researchers to facilitate compliance with the current regulatory requirements.
- For the purposes of Radiology focussed inspection, assist in the preparation of relevant documents and files for inspection by the regulatory bodies of the Trust’s services, trials and facilities. This includes support during inspections by regulatory bodies.
Finance, equipment and other resources
- Provide regular information to Radiology leadership team, relating to research activity and the income generated by research for radiology.
- This role has no budgetary responsibility.
People management and training
- Support radiology staff on a daily basis with operational queries related to research trail imaging.
- Provide clinical knowledge and expertise, in relation to imaging, to the research team where required.
- Provide support to and cover for duties undertaken by other research team members as required.
- Provide radiographic advice and support to investigators of research studies selected for inspection, including Trust sponsored, third party sponsored or hosted studies.
- Assist and encourage service development and innovation.
Information technology and administrative duties
- The candidate must be comfortable working with clinical and research IT systems
- Good knowledge of common IT applications (e.g. MS Teams Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc)
Research and development
- Have a proactive involvement in undertaking and supporting research and its utilisation in clinical practice.
Freedom to act
- Accountable for own professional actions, where work may be undertaken independently, with activities managed rather than supervised.
- Work and comply with all relevant National, Regional and TSDFT policies and procedures.
- Ensure that Radiation, Health and Safety and COSHH regulations and codes of practice are adhered to, and relevant records kept.
- To have a professional and courteous manner and always to uphold the reputation of TSDFT.
- Observe confidentiality with respect to Trust, patient, staff and NHS information at all times.
- Ensure that all trial protocols and any amendments are achievable, practicable and are communicated in a timely manner to the radiology departments.
- Ensure completion and appropriate storage of participant information sheets, consent forms and other essential documents where required.
- Identify serious adverse events that require reporting to the research team and assist in the investigation of any such incidents.
- Keep up to date with best practice, maintaining and promoting a high standard of clinical practice and patient care. To maintain good and effective professional practices. To ensure consistent operation of policies and standards.
- Follows and promotes evidence-based practice. [JR1] [TS2]
- Undertake audit of practice, to present results at audit meetings or appropriate forum.
- Complete statutory and mandatory training as required and complete annual personal development review in a timely manner.
