JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title:Assistant Systematic Reviewer, National Guideline Alliance

Directorate:Education and Quality

Grade:5

Post holder:

Responsible to:Senior Systematic Reviewer (or Systematic Reviewer)

Responsible for:

Hours:37.5 (Fixed term contract until 31 March 2017)

The Department

The RCOG has been commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to produce evidence-based guidelines for health and social care in England and Wales in a wide variety of topics including women and children’s health, cancer and mental health.

The National Guideline Alliance (NGA) is the team within the Education and Quality, which has a staff complement of around 50 and is responsible for continuously developing at least 15 guidelines at a time.

Purpose

NICE guidance is developed to improve the quality of care within the NHS and Social Care. It is based upon the best available evidence and informs practitioners, the public and government agencies on the most effective care for specific health conditions.

The Assistant Systematic Reviewer is a key member of the technical team who develop each guideline and their role is:

  • To assist systematic reviewers to carry out detailed literature searches, critical reviews and synthesis of evidence in order to develop recommendations for clinical practice.
  • To assist in presenting summaries of evidence to Guideline Committees, and to assist in writing sections of the final guidelines.
  • To contribute to the quality of systematic reviewing methodology across the NGA.

Main duties

  1. Assist with the systematic reviewing of agreed guidelines, in line with NGA and NICE standard processes for guideline development, working closely with the systematic reviewer and other members of the NGA technical team.
  2. Attend scoping meetings, assist with recording comments at the stakeholder workshop and assist the systematic reviewer in sifting the scoping searches. Improve your own familiarity with the topic to assist in these processes and to support effective participation in discussions relating to clinical issues.
  3. Participate in regular guideline technical team meetings, workingcollaboratively with the systematic reviewer and other members of the NGA technical team, including an information scientist, health economist and project manager, in all stages of guideline development.
  4. Collaborate closely with the systematic reviewerfor each guideline on the scheduling of review work, progress reporting, preparing for guideline committee meetings and supporting in the writing of the guideline, particularly in preparing the appendices.
  5. Assist thesystematic reviewer for the guideline or guidelines that you are assigned to, by carrying out initial title and abstract sifting of searches, assisting in the selection of studies for inclusion, undertaking data extraction, preparing evidence tables, performing some data analysis where necessary and conducting GRADE assessments.
  6. In carrying out review work, follow the guidance of the systematic reviewer closely, pay attention to accuracy in all work and following NICE’s and the NGA’s agreed guideline methodology.
  7. Attend guideline committee meetings, which are relevant to the review work you are assisting with and as you gain experience, prepare and present summaries of evidence to the committee, explaining results in a way that is understandable to non-technical members of the committee and responding to queries as they arise.
  8. Keep accurate records of evidence related discussion points, decisions taken and actions agreed in guideline committee meetings and guideline team meetings.
  9. Support the systematic reviewer to carry out methods for gaining consensus views for review questions in which published evidence is not comprehensive or conclusive, for example, the nominal group technique or other formal and informal processes.
  10. Assist with guideline amendments and responses to NICE technical and editorial queries and to comments received from stakeholders during formal consultation.
  11. Work closely with other research staff in the NGA, NICE and other guideline development centres, considering methodology and solutions for systematic reviewing, and assisting where possible in the writing of papers for publication and training sessions
  12. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with other NGA staff, contributing positively to the improvement of methods and process across the centre, the development and updating of NGA protocols, and the effectiveness of team meetings and communications.
  13. Undertake any other duties related to the job purpose, which may be necessary in the work of the NGA.

Note: This job description reflects the present requirements of the post. As duties and responsibilities change and develop, the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the jobholder.

Signed: ______Date: ______

PERSON SPECIFICATION

ASSISTANT SYSTEMATIC REVIEWER

Education requirements

Essential criteria / Desirable criteria
  • A postgraduate qualification in health services research or a related area (for example, epidemiology or medical statistics) or a medical degree with experience in health services research

Experience

Essential criteria / Desirable criteria
  • Experienced in using internet-based information technology
  • Experienced in writing research papers, an MSc dissertation or a PhD thesis, or other complex technical documents, to a high standard
/
  • Experienced in systematic reviewing with excellent quantitative and qualitative skills
  • Experienced in GRADE methodology
  • Experienced in conducting research and preparing peer-reviewed publications

Skills and abilities

Essential criteria / Desirable criteria
  • Adaptable communication style to suit different audiences both verbally and in writing
  • Excellent presentation skills
  • Highly organised, using effective systems and processes
  • Ability to deal with conflicting priorities and to work under pressure
  • Ability to accurately record risks and issues and understanding the thresholds for escalation
  • Demonstrable interpersonal skills to work constructively and flexibly with a wide range of stakeholders
  • Ability to negotiate and influence
  • Can challenge ideas tactfully and constructively
  • Excellent computer skills (e.g. using MS Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
/
  • Knowledge of the NICE guideline development process
  • Ability to present quantitative methods to non-technical audiences
  • Ability to conduct literature searches

Other requirements

Essential criteria / Desirable criteria
  • Demonstrates a flexible and adaptable approach to work
  • Undertakes tasks and supports organisational aims in a constructive and positive manner
  • Close attention to detail
  • Able to work independently
  • Contributes positively to team dynamics
  • Respectful of other team members ideas
  • Exercises tact and diplomacy
  • Punctual and reliable
  • Demonstrates commitment to self-development and learning
  • Highly self-motivated

Competencies

  1. Personal effectiveness
  • Focuses on delivering results for RCOG
  • Leads by example in being reliable, consistent and flexible
  • Makes decisions with confidence and takes initiative in problem solving
  1. Quality
  • Is skilled and knowledgeable in own functional area/ has recognised functional expertise in own team or department
  • Seeks improvement and takes responsibility for continuous self-development
  1. Communication
  • Communicates assertively, confidently and clearly at all levels inside and outside theCollege
  • Is able to communicate complex issues logically and persuasively
  • Influences at all levels
  1. Working together
  • Develops effective working relationships and partnerships
  • Enhances team effectiveness
  • Promotes equality of opportunity and dignity at work
  1. Customer focus
  • Ensures high standards of service delivery and encourages continuous improvement
  • Develops effective relationships with customers and treats them fairly and consistently
  • Demonstrates adaptability and flexibility in order to meet customer needs and manage expectations
  1. Managing change
  • Supports organisational change
  • Provides guidance and support during times of change and uncertainty
  • Encourages innovation and engagement

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