The roles provide a unique opportunity to work within the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre (NATCAN). NATCAN is a new national centre of excellence overseeing the 10 National Cancer Audits in England and Wales aiming to strengthen NHS cancer services by looking at treatments and patient outcomes across the NHS. NATCAN is the largest centre evaluating cancer services in the UK, with 35 staff members, employed at the RCS or the LSTHM, from a wide range of backgrounds (medicine, statistics, epidemiology, data science, quality improvement, project management)
These are key roles in centralised data science and reporting in NATCAN, working closely with Data Managers, Data Scientists and other multidisciplinary members. The post holders will support development to improve the efficiency of data analysis and reporting within the centre, working on the data flow into and within NATCAN, data validation, data science processes, automated reporting, state-of-the-art data visualisation and dashboards. They will develop advanced analysis and research skills. Having large detailed linked datasets provides opportunities to be involved in methodological development and in epidemiological studies assessing the quality of care and answering the most pressing questions about why some cancer patients receive different treatments and outcomes than others. The results of the work will be disseminated as audit reports, dashboards, peer-reviewed academic papers, and conference presentations. Dependent on skills and expertise there will be the opportunity to pursue a PhD, supervised by senior colleagues within the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre.
A current Data Scientist in NATCAN says “These data scientist roles provide a fantastic opportunity to be part of multidisciplinary teams carrying out clinical audit and research with ‘big data’. For this to drive quality improvement and make a real difference to patients, we need more input from data scientists to handle the data coming into NATCAN efficiently and analyse and report on it effectively. My role has been extremely well-supported from academics and clinicians at the forefront of their fields and has provided me with invaluable opportunities to develop my data science skills, present at national and international conferences, and contribute to meaningful improvements for patients with cancer. I cannot recommend this position highly enough.”
The posts are located at the RCS. There are opportunities to work remotely within the UK, to be discussed upon appointment. However, there is an expectation that post holders attend the RCS regularly for in person meetings.
Responsibilities
- Carry out statistical analyses to:
– describe the cancer care and outcomes across different NHS organisations
– examine how different patterns of care may influence patient outcomes
– support quality improvement initiatives
- Extract, wrangle and curate large scale linked clinical datasets ready for analysis using SQL or statistical software
- Develop reusable data pipelines and apply algorithms to derive required variables
- Produce reports, dashboards and data visualisations to support local quality improvement
- Ensure projects comply with information governance policies
- Communicate findings in seminars, conference presentations, reports and academic journals
About you
We are looking for applicants with
- Bachelor Level/ Higher degree in medical statistics, data science, epidemiology, operational research or equivalent academic qualification
- A good understanding of health-related research methods and study designs
- Experience of undertaking analyses using large complex datasets in a statistical package
- Evidence of contributions to written output, preferably peer-reviewed
- Experience of applying information governance principles to health care data
To apply for the job click here
Last updated: 26 November 2024, 11:56am