Clinical Research Fellow - RESPOND

We are looking for a Clinical Research Fellow to work on the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) RESPOND Programme. This was a 5-year project to develop and trial methods for improving responses to deteriorating postoperative patients. The post will be primarily based at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, but may involve travel to Trusts around England. The RESPOND programme is focused on emergency laparotomy and will measure Failure to Rescue (mortality associated with postoperative complications) as the primary outcome.

The intervention comprises a bundle of four Human Factors initiatives to improve teamwork and system reliability, which recently underwent evaluation in a 24 hospital randomised Stepped Wedge trial.

The postholder will be working closely with Professor Peter McCulloch and his team at the Patient Safety Academy and Quality, Reliability and Teamwork Research Unit. Specifically, they will be working to supervise data collection, cleaning and analysis and helping in the writing up and publication of the results. This will involve visiting sites to gather data and remote support via Teams calls.

Experience of involvement in clinical research, would be useful. Publication will be an important part of the role, and candidates should have experience of successfully writing scientific articles. The postholder will receive on the job training in Human Factors, Quality Improvement techniques and theory.

The postholder will have clinical experience in surgery to at least CT1 level, will hold GMC registration with a licence to practice, and will have some background in research or evidence of research training. You will have proven ability to communicate at an academic level, the ability to conduct projects semi-autonomously, and the ability to work well as part of a team.

This part-time 0.5 FTE post is fixed term until 31 July 2026, with the possibility of renewal for up to one year.