Job Description

Preterm birth remains the greatest contributor to neonatal mortality and morbidity in the UK. It has been demonstrated that women and babies from ethnic minorities are more likely to have poor outcomes. Similar findings have been demonstrated in adolescent mothers and women of low socio-demographic status. Our idea is to explore the barriers to accessing care and co-design a patient empowerment and staff education and program to improve equitable access and trust in hospital care for women presenting with symptoms of preterm labour and improve clinical management. We want to understand the data within GSTT hospital trust to understand the management of women with preterm birth as well as the perinatal outcomes to better understand the health inequalities in our population. Following this, patient and public involvement, with a specific focus on marginalised communities, including Black African, Caribbean and South Asian communities, and those living with socioeconomic deprivation is key to understand the reasons behind the poor outcomes in the context of preterm birth. We aim to better define the populations most at risk of preterm labour, the gap in optimal preterm optimisation in different ethnic and sociodemographic groups and explore the specific barriers and facilitators to receiving optimal hospital care in these communities, with a focus on access, trust and knowledge.



This post is a 0.80 WTE post for 3 months.



The postholder will work with a team of obstetricians, midwives and neonatal doctors at St Thomas' hospital. You will be responsible for assisting in the first steps of this project including the baseline data collection and data analysis. The main scope of this role includes collecting retrospective local neonatal and maternal data of preterm deliveries over a 5 year period and stratifying this by demographic background. Basic clinical knowledge and data collection and data cleaning methods are required, support will be provided for any data analysis. You may also provide assistance in conducting literature reviews and drafting reports. You will may also assist in drafting and undergoing some qualitative interviews for staff and the public as well as analysing this.



As the only NHS Trust in London with women's and specialist children's services on one site we have unique opportunities to provide excellent, high-quality, integrated care for mothers, babies and children. Our directorate provides high quality care to patients across South East London, as well as delivering a range of specialist services both nationally and internationally. Alongside our clinical services, we are integrated with colleagues at Kings College London, delivering a significant programme of research and development.

Key responsibilities:

Supporting the PRELUDE team with general organisation of the project



Leading on prospective data collection from patient hospital records on the trust computers, collecting both maternal and neonatal data Developing data collections tools, questionnaires and semi-structured interview questions Conducting literature reviews and database searches Provides general administrative support to the project, including organising and attending meetings, capturing minutes and maintaining logs Contribute to production of research reports and publications * Takes responsibility for managing workload to ensure timely delivery of projects