Research Support Assistant | Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	Lancashire Care Foundation Trust
Salary:	£28,392 - £31,157 Per Annum
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Preston, PR2 8DW
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	7 Oct 2026
Closing date:	7 Nov 2026

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Summary

The Mouth Matters in Mental Health trial is an NIHR funded project involving an intervention using mental health support workers as link workers to improve dental visiting in people with severe mental illness (SMI). This is a multicentre randomised controlled trial evaluating an intervention for helping people with serious mental health difficulties (e.g. psychosis, bipolar mood swings) to find and attend a dentist, and through this improve their oral health.

The post starts in February 2027. 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.

The Trust delivers a wide portfolio of high quality research and is supporting this important study. The Mouth Matters in Mental Health trial is a multicentre randomised controlled trial involving an intervention using mental health support workers as link workers to improve dental visiting in people with severe mental illness (SMI).

You must have at least a degree level qualification in a relevant discipline and knowledge of quantitative research designs including clinical trial designs with recruitment and retention targets. You will need to be competent in data collection 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.

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.

The wellbeing of our people is at the heart of everything we do. We offer a wide range of resources, tools and support to help you thrive both in and out of work.

Explore our full wellbeing offer here:Keeping our workforce well

For more information about this vacancy please review the attached job description and person specification.

This advert closes on Wednesday 21 Oct 2026

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