ST GEORGE'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL
(University of London)

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES

STATISTICIAN

(Ref: 386/02 )

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title: Statistician
Grade: RA1B
Responsible to: Mr Richard Atkinson, Senior Research Fellow
Accountable to: Professor Ross Anderson, Head of Department

A medical statistician is required in the Department of Public Health
Sciences, for a period of 18 months, in the first instance.

St George's Hospital Medical School
St George’s Hospital Medical School is part of the University of London,
and together with St George’s Hospital, is housed in integrated modern
buildings on a large joint campus at Tooting in South London. It is a
research-based, independently governed and funded specialised
health-focused School with academic departments in Bio, Behavioural,
Clinical and Community Science. The School is closely integrated with
the Hospital’s extensive secondary and tertiary clinical NHS provision.

Department of Public Health Sciences
The Department of Public Health Sciences is concerned with undergraduate
and postgraduate teaching and research in the fields of public health,
biostatistics, epidemiology and social sciences. There are currently a
total of over 50 members of staff, including 6 professors, 12 other
academics, 11 statisticians and a variable number of research staff
working on specific projects. The administrative functions of the
department are the responsibility of a team (the Administrative Group),
who also provide support for research.

Further information about the department can be found on the St George's
Hospital Medical School website: www.sghms.ac.uk Look for the department
of Public Health Sciences under 'Academic Departments'.


The statistician will be dedicated to two projects concerned with the
health effects of outdoor air pollution:

1. Short-term associations between air pollution and daily hospital
admissions and mortality in London and a number of European cities.

This project is funded by the EC and involves a joint collaboration
between European and North American centres. The department has
collaborated with European colleagues involved in air pollution
epidemiology for a number of years and the post holder will work with
members of the Department providing statistical support for these
initiatives. The work will include complex regression modelling, using
Generalised Additive Models and other non-parametric and parametric
techniques.

2. Systematic review of the literature on short-term associations
between outdoor air pollution and health.

This ongoing project is funded by the Department of Health. It involves
identifying the relevant papers, appraising them for their suitablity
for inclusion in the review and then extracting relevant data and
entering them into an ACCESS database. The post holder will be
responsible for maintaining the database and carrying out quantitative
analysis of the data. They will contribute to the preparation of policy
relevant information to the Department of Health, WHO and other national
and international agencies and contribute to the preparation of research
papers and reports.

For these two projects, the Statistician will assist and work under the
direction of Richard Atkinson, Senior Research Fellow. He or she will
also be required to assist with other research work that may arise on
occasion and to assist in teaching.

Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Role

Provide statistical support to both projects
Carry out statistical analysis as required
Contribute to the preparation of research papers and reports
Maintenance of systematic review databases
Appraising relevant research papers for inclusion in the review
Extracting relevant data from research papers and entering it into an
ACCESS database

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The Person Specification will form the basis of the shortlisting and
selection criteria. It is therefore expected that the following criteria
will be addressed and evidenced in the supporting statement.

Education/Qualifications:
Degree in statistics or relevant mathematics
A higher degree in statistics

Experience:
Management of large databases
Data analysis
Previous research experience
Preparation of research reports and papers

Technical Skills/Knowledge:
Splus, Access, Excel and Word
Excellent written skills
Experience in regression modelling
Knowledge of generalized additive models and other non-parametric
regression techniques

Personal Qualities:
Able to communicate effectively and sensitively with a wide range of
organisations and researchers at an international level
Initiative & judgement
Ability to work as part of the project team
Flexibility to work on a number of different projects

Further information about the post:
Further information about the post may be obtained from Mr Richard
Atkinson on 0208 725 5174 or email: [log in to unmask], or Professor
Ross Anderson on 0208 725 5424 or email [log in to unmask]

Academic environment
The Department of Public Health Sciences includes staff drawn from
medical, statistical and social science backgrounds. The active
research programme includes a variety of epidemiological and health
service research projects, mainly relating to cardiovascular and
respiratory epidemiology, health effects of air pollution, and health
care evaluation. The Department carries out undergraduate teaching at
all stages of the medical curriculum. This includes statistics,
sociology, epidemiology and public health medicine in the undergraduate
medical course. Postgraduate teaching includes statistics,
epidemiology, sociology and health information courses in the School's
MSc programme. The Department has good computing facilities, connected
by network to the School's own Sun system and the University of
Manchester mainframe.

The Department has a professor, two senior lecturers, two full-time and
three half-time lecturers in statistics, with primary responsibility for
undergraduate teaching and statistical aspects of the Department's
research programme, statistical aspects of post-graduate training, work
with service colleagues and statistical advice to the NHS R&D
programme. There are currently eight other statisticians in research
posts in the department.

There are good opportunities for contact with statistical colleagues at
St George's. In addition to the 11 statisticians in Public Health
Sciences, there are statisticians in other departments, and several of
the other members of the Department of Public Health Sciences have
considerable statistical expertise. There is a weekly seminar
programme, which is shared with the Department of Primary Care. The new
statisticians will be encouraged to take advantage of the other
opportunities offered by the University and the various meetings of
statistical societies held in London.

Further details of the Department of Public Health Sciences appear on
our Website http://www.sghms.ac.uk/depts/phs/index.htm For more
information concerning the Medical Statistics Group see the web page
http://www.sghms.ac.uk/depts/phs/stats/medstat.htm


FURTHER PARTICULARS

Brief Summary of Main Terms and Conditions of Post
The post is tenable for a period of eighteen months in the first
instance and is subject to the successful completion of a six month
probationary period .

Hours of Work
The normal working week is 35 hours. However, staff on this grade are
expected to work to meet the requirements of the job, rather than a
strict adherence to office hours.

Annual Leave
There are 32 days annual leave plus 11 public and other holidays.

Pension Arrangements
Membership of USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme) is optional; the
employee's contribution rate is 6.35%. Existing members of NHSSS
(National Health Service Superannuation Scheme) may elect to remain as
members of that scheme.

Salary Scale
The salary will be on the salary scale for Research and Analogous Staff
IB: £17,626 - £18,655 - £19,681 plus £2,134 London allowance, depending
on experience and qualifications.

A full statement of the terms and conditions of the post will be sent to
the successful candidate.

Offers of Appointment
Offers of appointment are only valid if made by the School Secretary or
designated members of the Personnel Office staff acting on his behalf.

Offers of appointment are made subject to receipt of satisfactory
references and satisfactory completion of probationary periods where
appropriate.

Season Ticket and Parking Permit Loans
Employees are entitled to apply to the Finance Office for an interest
free annual season travel ticket loan or a loan for a season ticket to
allow on street parking in the vicinity of the Medical School.

Place of Residence
It is Medical School policy that all postholders must live within 30
miles of the Medical School on appointment.

Right to work
The School will comply with the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 which
requires all employees to provide documentary evidence of their legal
right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment. For posts
requiring a recognised degree level qualification and where there is no
suitable UK or European Economic Area candidate, the School will take
necessary steps to secure a work permit from the Home Office in order
for a foreign national to take up employment.

All candidates invited to interview will be asked to provide copies of
one of the following official documents:

Copies of the identification pages or appropriate visa pages of their
passport describing the holder as a British citizen or a EEA national or
showing that they are otherwise entitled to work in the United Kingdom.
A birth certificate issued in the UK or in the Republic of Ireland.
A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen.
A letter issued by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the
Home Office indicating that the person has permission to take up
employment.

All successful candidates will be required to provide the originals of
one of the above documents on commencing employment.


Medical Clearance
The School reserves the right to request successful candidates
(including internal candidates) to complete pre-employment health
questionnaires. In accordance with this, any offer of employment is
made subject to satisfactory health clearance by the Staff Health
Department.

Policy on Smoking at Work
The School has established a no-smoking policy to minimise risks to the
health of our staff and to maintain a tobacco smoke free working
environment, where non-smoking is the norm. The Policy stipulates that
smoking inside the Medical School buildings is not permitted, except in
certain areas of the School Club. The Policy also contains provisions
to eliminate passive smoking exposure within the Medical School.

Equal Opportunities
St George's Hospital Medical School confirms its commitment to a
comprehensive policy of equal opportunities in employment in which
individuals are selected and treated on the basis of their relevant
merits and abilities and are given equal opportunities within the
School. The aim of this policy is to ensure that no job applicant or
employee should receive less favourable treatment on any grounds not
relevant to good employment practice. The School is committed to action
to make this policy fully effective.

Applications
Application forms should be returned to the Personnel Officer, St
George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, to
arrive no later than 1st November 2002 Interviews will be held on 15th
November 2002. References will be taken up before interview unless you
indicate otherwise on the application form. Please quote reference
386/02

Thank you for your interest in the School. Unfortunately, due to the
rising cost of recruitment and our efforts to direct funds towards
education and research wherever possible, we regret that it is no longer
possible to write to unsuccessful applicants. If you have not therefore
received a reply within 5 weeks of the published closing date you should
assume that you have been unsuccessful in your application. We hope
that you will recognise that this is a practical necessity on our part
and that the lack of response will not deter you from applying for
subsequent posts which may be of interest.

Acknowledgement of Applications
If you would like your application acknowledged, please enter your name
and address on the reverse side of the enclosed postcard, with a stamp
and return it with your application.



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