Associate Practitioner Point of Care
The closing date is 04 November 2025
Are you enthusiastic, professional, highly motivated with good communication skills? If so, we have an exceptional opportunity for you to join our Point of care team at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust!
The point of care department at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for the care and maintenance of all point of care equipment held within the Trust and associated contracts. They also co-ordinate and deliver all training related to the equipment.
The successful applicant will be part of a team of Associate Practitioners supporting the provision of the highest quality patient care by providing point of care testing (POCT) service for the use of the clinical staff at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and associated contracts held by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
We are currently seeking a full-time candidate to join our dynamic team. The core hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm but this is flexible depending on the needs of the service.
In this role, you will be expected to work across all Trust sites and community/commercial settings that contract with the Trust for POCT service provision.
If you have further questions or would like to arrange an informal visit please contact Francesca Meakin, POCT lead (francesca.meakin@nhs.net)
Main duties of the job
To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.
About us
We are an award-winning NHS Foundation Trust working alongside health and social care colleagues across the county to provide acute and community healthcare services to more than 420,000 people across Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
We put the patient at the heart of everything that we do and it is our aim to make sure that every patient is treated as we would want a member of our own family to be treated. At the same time, we expect our staff to be caring, kind and courteous to each other and to look out for each other. We believe that we are truly a clinically-led organisation.
We are proud that our Trust colleagues have voted us the best acute Trust to work for in the East Midlands for seven years running in the National NHS Staff Survey, while the Care Quality Commission has rated our Trust as 'outstanding' for care and our King\'s Mill Hospital as the only 'outstanding' NHS-run hospital in the East Midlands.
Not all of our roles are eligible for visa sponsorship. To find out which roles are eligible, please refer to the shortage occupation list found here:
Skilled Worker visa: eligible healthcare and education jobs - GOV.UK
Home Office guidance has changed as of 9th April. Anyone that requires switching visa type may not be eligible for sponsorship even if the role is on the shortage occupation list.
Job responsibilities
To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.
Person Specification
Knowledge Requirements
* Proficient in the use of pathology/POCT data systems
* Excellent written and communication skills
* High level of accuracy
* Good organisational skills
* Ability to work as part of a team
* Ability to organise and prioritise workload
* Ability to manage difficult situations
* Adopt a courteous, approachable, and helpful manner when dealing with service users, staff, public and commercial representatives and engineers
* Previous experience of working in POCT, Pathology or Phlebotomy
* Understand the role of EQA and IQC
* Understand the role of POCT or laboratory audits and ISO standards
Qualifications
* Full driving licence
* GCSE A*-C in English and Mathematics and at least one science subject or equivalent
* IBMS Certificate of Achievement Part II/Foundation Degree or NVQ4 or BTEC diploma
* ECDL
Further Training
* POCT training
* Competency based assessment
Experience
* Understanding of POCT, different systems, technologies, POCT advantages/disadvantages
* Understanding of healthcare systems and pathology
* Demonstrate a current commitment to continuous professional development
Contractual Requirements
* Flexible 37.5 hours per week depending on needs of service
* Flexible to work shift pattern if required by Trust or POCT service
* Willing to work on all locations where POCT is provided including community settings/off site locations
* Willing to work in clinical areas during pandemic/stressful conditions to ensure service delivery with appropriate PPE provided
* Willing to respond appropriately to emergency situation i.e. willingness to work beyond rostered hours to rectify service delivery issue
* The ability to be flexible in undertaking all duties demanded by the post
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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