The remit of the post-holder is to assist in the set-up, delivery and evaluation of a diabetes nurse delivered intervention to improve diabetes outcomes for people with severe mental illness (SMI) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).  

The postholder will lead on 2 studies. Study 1 will involve conducting an online scoping review of models of care for people with SMI and T2D in England to map what is available and to determine how people with SMI and T2D navigate support for self-management. Study 2 will involve the set-up and evaluation of a pre-post observational study of a diabetes nurse-led integrated care pathway for people with SMI and T2D. It is anticipated that this care pathway will involve collaboration between 3 nursing professions: diabetes; general practice; and community psychiatric nurses. Specific tasks for the post-holder will include gaining ethics approval, collating questionnaires for the individual studies, developing the online survey for study 1, setting up a study advisory group and a patient participation event, recruiting participants to study 1 and collecting baseline and follow-up data. 

The postholder will work with the diabetes team based within the ‘Care of Long-Term Conditions’ research division at the Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care (NMPC), King’s College London (KCL), where the Principal Investigator for the study, Dr Kirsty Winkley (academic diabetes nurse and health psychologist) is also based. The project is co-led by Professor Khalida Ismail, a diabetes psychiatrist based at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), Professor Alan Simpson, academic mental health nurse based at both NMPC and IoPPN, and Dr Mark Chamley, clinical lead of the Lambeth Diabetes Intermediate Care Team. This project is funded by the Burdett Nursing Trust.

This post will be offered on a full-time, fixed term contract for 12 months.

Key responsibilities

• Study set-up, ethics and health research authority approvals  
• Organisation and collation of study questionnaires 
• Development of an online questionnaire for study 1 
• Visiting study sites to facilitate set-up, i.e. Lambeth GP practices 
• Recruitment of participants, data collection at baseline and follow-up 
• Set-up of a study advisory group 
• Set-up of a patient participation event 
• Keep records of clinical research activity and be responsible for entering and managing data in statistical software packages such as SPSS, MS Excel or STATA 
• To perform basic data analysis 
• Assist in the writing of reports to the funding body and papers for publication 
• The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria 

1. BSc or equivalent in Psychology or Health-related subject 
2. Understanding of SMI and diabetes or other long-term health conditions 
3. Knowledge of experimental design 
4. Ability to manage data using statistical packages and write reports using MS Word 
5. High standard of communication skills with health professionals and patients 
6. Excellent problem solving skills 
7. Ability to work in a flexible environment in-keeping with changes in workload 
8. Experience in conducting scientific research at an undergraduate or postgraduate level 
9. Experience of teamwork 

Desirable criteria 

1. MSc or equivalent in Psychology or Health-related subject 
2. Experience of recruiting and conducting research in a clinical setting and  writing for publication
3. Formal training in mental health or diabetes related conditions

Further information

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance.