Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care and has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Sunflower House building newly relocated, and opened on the hospital site. We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year. As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit. You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. At Alder Hey we appreciate our staff and reward them with an outstanding benefits package including: Great flexible working opportunities Lease car scheme and Home Electronics Scheme Generous annual leave and pension scheme Extensive staff health and well-being programmes Job overview We are seeking to recruit a Healthcare Science Support Worker (higher MLA) to work within the busy paediatric Laboratory Medicine department. We are looking for an enthusiastic and well-motivated individual with good communication skills and attention to detail. Working as part of a team across disciplines you will contribute to the provision and further development of a high-quality diagnostic service. Advert To participate in the reception and pre-analytical processing of samples and to perform some analytical diagnostic functions within the laboratory. The post holder will be required to enter patient and specimen data accurately on the hospital information system, receive and process samples, deal with sample reception queries, help maintain stocks of consumables available to the laboratory and wards and participate in a variety of laboratory diagnostic and housekeeping duties related to all disciplines of pathology. Working for our organisation Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care to over 275,000 children and young people each year. In addition to the hospital site located in the West Derby area of Liverpool, Alder Hey has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients’ homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man. The Trust also provides inpatient care for children with complex mental health needs at our Alder Park building in the nearby borough of Sefton. We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We’re also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year. As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit. You can expect a warm welcome at Alder Hey Childrens NHS Foundation Trust, our staff are friendly and welcoming. We listen to each other and work together to embed our Trusts values and behaviours. Detailed job description and main responsibilities 1 Key Responsibilities 1.1 Providing sample reception support to all disciplines within laboratory medicine and within specific work areas as required. 1.2 Carrying out analytical processes under the supervision of Biomedical Scientists (BMS) to provide a diagnostic service. 1.3 Receiving, collating and performing the preliminary processing of a variety of patient specimens for biomedical analysis, acting on any issues with unlabelled or mislabelled samples as required. 1.4 Manually pipetting plasma/urine samples prior to appropriate storage or analysis. 1.5 Dealing with reception and telephone queries from various Trust staff, GPs and visitors to the department. 1.6 Organising own day-to-day work, prioritising urgent and emergency workloads. 1.7 Perform clerical tasks such as inputting patient demographics and input/retrieval of test request details on laboratory IT systems. 1.8 Operating the pneumatic pod system and ensuring performance issues are reported. 1.9 Identifying and processing high risk/ infectious specimens safely and appropriately. 1.10 Prompt referral of non-routine issues to senior staff. 1.11 Perform general housekeeping including the cleaning of centrifuges, glassware and work surfaces; and the preparation of disinfectant for use. 1.12 Maintaining the safe and confidential storage and retrieval of records and specimens, both physically and electronically. 1.13 Processing and sending away samples to reference laboratories. 1.14 Attending meetings and maintaining an up to date knowledge of new developments in the laboratory. 1.15 Complying with Trust and Departmental Health and Safety policies; reporting accidents, hazards and defects as soon as possible. 1.16 Assisting in completing incident reporting forms when incidents or errors are identified eg mislabelled or incorrect samples. 1.17 Proposing changes and contributing towards improving working practices, turnaround times and SOPs (standard operating procedures) 1.18 Use of expensive complex equipment and where appropriate performing preventative maintenance in accordance with manufacturers instructions and local SOPs 1.19 Ensuring the proper and efficient use of consumables without wastage, performing stock checks and alerting the senior staff when stock levels are low. 1.20 Checking the delivery hub regularly, signing for deliveries and assisting in the distribution and storage of deliveries and stock according to departmental material management policies. 1.21 Performing Quality Control tests. 1.22 Dispense and collect liquid nitrogen following completion of safety training. 1.23 To undertake water flushing requirements 1.24 Participate in late shifts. We reserve the right to close vacancies without notice when we have received a sufficient number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role. Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will contact you using this regarding your application. All candidates will be notified via email whether or not they have been shortlisted. Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are committed to creating a well-managed, flexible working environment that supports staff and promotes their welfare and development. We actively promote equality and diversity and operate a Zero Tolerance policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. Should you require any assistance during the application stages please contact recruiting manager of vacancy or the recruitment team at [email protected] or call 0151 282 4599 Please declare within the supporting information if artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in your application. Please note, the selection processes at Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications are monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.