Job summary
- Main area
- Specialty Doctor - Research - General / Adult/ Older People Psychiatry
- Grade
- Medical & Dental: Specialty Doctor
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (due to research funding)
- Hours
- Full time - 10 sessions per week (Core CRF hours are 9am -5pm - occasional flexibility is needed if the service demands. Two sessions a week are reserved for Professional Development.)
- Job ref
- 267-MSCR7284848
- Employer
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility, Warneford Hospital
- Town
- Oxford
- Salary
- £61,542 - £99,216 per annum, dependent on experience and NHS service
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 21/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Specialty Doctor in Clinical Research (Adult/Older Adult Psychiatry)
Medical & Dental: Specialty Doctor
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible.
Job overview
The NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (OH CRF), based at the Warneford Hospital in Oxford, is the only NIHR-supported CRF in England dedicated to mental health and is hosted by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. In partnership with the University of Oxford, the CRF delivers patient-orientated non-commercial and commercial early phase experimental clinical research with the potential to transform understanding and treatment of cognitive health challenges, including dementia, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. The OH CRF has recently been awarded over £4 million in funding over five years by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and is one of 28 facilities across England to benefit from nearly £161 million awarded nationally to expand early phase clinical research delivery in NHS hospitals.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be a Specialty Grade Doctor, responsible for delivering protocol-specific medical activity and providing broader clinical support to the Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (OH CRF). Based primarily at the Warneford site, the post involves working within an eight-bed unit equipped for high-intensity early phase research, including pharmacy, laboratory, and overnight facilities, supported by a multidisciplinary clinical and research team. The role includes participant assessment, informed consent, physical and psychiatric care, and data documentation. The post-holder will be supervised by a Consultant Psychiatrist and may occasionally provide medical input at the OHFT Whiteleaf Centre in Aylesbury or support other OHFT research teams as required.
Working for our organisation
This is an exciting time to join Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and become part of the Oxfordshire adult service.
If you relish a challenge, are enthusiastic about improving mental health of patients and want to join a friendly and ambitious service which is modernising and expanding at pace, then OHFT has all the right ingredients.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible
Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent”
At Oxford Health we offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
- Excellent opportunities for career progression
- Access to tailored individual and Trust wide learning and development
- 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
- NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
- Competitive pension scheme
- Lease car scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Mental Health First Aiders
- Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Under the supervision and direction of the consultant, the post holder will be responsible for:
Day-to-day provision of medical activity and cover for:
-
research participants (patients and healthy volunteers) on the CRF, including those attending for research visits and queries arising between visits
-
protocol-driven activity requiring medical input such as explaining studies and obtaining informed consent, conducting physical and neurological examinations, applying specialist assessment tools, and assessing eligibility for enrolment
-
managing the physical and psychiatric care of participants when required, including the ongoing clinical care of patients within specialist research clinics (e.g. Treatment Resistant Depression and Bipolar Disorder clinics), and making referrals to appropriate agencies if needed
The post-holder will contribute to CRF Study Coordinator meetings and, as experience develops, may provide medical input into feasibility assessments, study setup, SOP development, and operational management. They may also be asked to perform clinical procedures such as venepuncture and cannulation, with training provided if required.
They will ensure timely and accurate data entry in compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP), including documentation in the electronic health record (E.H.R.), completion of CRF Manager system entries, and correspondence to GPs and other professionals.
The post-holder will work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, including OHFT clinical teams, R&D, University of Oxford researchers, commercial sponsors, the local Clinical Research Network, and Oxford University Hospitals. Occasional support may be required at the OHFT Whiteleaf Centre in Aylesbury or more often with other research delivery teams, including the Memory and Cognition team.
The post-holder will provide daytime medical cover to Immediate Life Support level as part of the wider CRF team (training provided).
Participation in research-related training, including GCP and study-specific education, is expected. Further professional development opportunities will be supported by the line manager where appropriate. They may also contribute to the development of new research ideas and materials, and take shared responsibility for research project administration and communication.
They will contribute to Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPI/E) activities at the CRF.
Study workload varies depending on protocol intensity and participant volume but is typically predictable due to the structured, timetabled nature of CRF operations.
Person specification
Skills and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Clinical Responsibility - To exercise an intermediate level of clinical responsibility as delegated by the Consultant in charge.
- Leadership skills - Ability to work through a collaborative multi-disciplinary framework.
- Organisation skills - Ability to contribute to effective team working. Capacity to prioritise workload.
- Communication skills - Must have good skills in communication with patients, relatives, colleagues and staff of other organisations. Good spoken and written English. Must have an interest in sharing and promoting research outputs and activities
- Professional approach - Work collaboratively and effectively with a range of professionals.
- Personal skills - Must have interest in research and commitment to people with mental health problems, and their carers.
- Experience in delivering clinical research
- Interest in teaching
Desirable criteria
- Experience in presenting research outputs at academic meetings
- Publications in scientific journals
- Research experience - Experience in delivering clinical research.
- Experience in working with a range of professionals
- Teaching experience - medical undergraduates or other trainees
- Experience in specialist research delivery at a CRF or equivalent.
Other requirements
Essential criteria
- GMC registration - full and current
- Transport - Mobility as required for the post.
- Professional attributes - Meets specifications set out in GMC Guidance: Duties of doctor.
- IT - Good IT skills including typing.
Desirable criteria
- Driving licence and own transport.
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- General medical qualification
- Part I MRCPsych or equivalent experience
Desirable criteria
- MRCPsych part 2 or equivalent.
Clinical Experience
Essential criteria
- A minimum of 2 years’ experience in Psychiatry.
- Experience of clinical research.
Desirable criteria
- Experience in mental health experimental medicine
- A higher research degree (e.g. a master’s or doctorate)
Training
Essential criteria
- A minimum of four years’ full-time postgraduate training in clinical medicine (or its equivalent gained on a part-time or flexible basis)
Desirable criteria
- Training in a specialty training programme in a relevant specialty or as a fixed term specialty trainee in a relevant specialty (or equivalent experience and competencies).
- Up to date GCP (research).
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Katharine Smith
- Job title
- Hon Consultant Psychiatrist / CRF Clinical Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01865 902135
List jobs with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust in Medical and Dental or all sectors