Overview
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers. The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. We are a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. WeCare values and behaviours guide how we work together and we strive to be an outstanding place to work.
Barts Health supports the Pregnancy Loss Pledge and commits to supporting staff through the distress of miscarriage.
Job overview
We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated biomedical scientist with strong organisational skills and a positive attitude to support our busy histopathology team. To join our department and work in the routine Histology lab & cut-up and diagnostic cytology preparation areas. The ideal candidate should have experience of working in Cellular Pathology (Histopathology). The successful candidate may occasionally support other ESEL sites depending on service needs. The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specifications outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required.
Main duties of the job
1. Undertake routine laboratory techniques in line with department standard operating procedures under supervision.
2. Record information on the Laboratory Information Management System and ensure it complies with national and local data standards.
3. To assist clinical staff as appropriate to ensure optimal service delivery.
4. To undertake routine operative maintenance on laboratory instrumentation.
5. To maintain and update the laboratory protocols of the areas for which the post holder is responsible.
6. To undertake specialised aspects of technical work, as deemed necessary.
7. To liaise with all other hospital staff as required.
Working for our organisation
The NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership is an arms-length organisation providing pathology services to Barts Health NHS Trust, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. The Pathology Partnership is hosted by Barts Health.
The Pathology Partnership was formed in May 2021. Between 2021 and 2024 the Partnership undertook a complex transformation programme to establish a single network of laboratories, underpinned by a single Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and single Quality Management System (QMS).
The Partnership has a main hub laboratory at the Royal London Hospital and Essential Service Laboratories (ESL) as a minimum at the six other hospital sites served by the Partnership. The Partnership has three operational divisions: Blood Sciences including Haematology, Blood Transfusion and Biochemistry; Microbiology and Virology; Cellular Pathology and Cancer Diagnostics. The 2024/25 total operating costs across the Partnership were c. £121m per annum with a workforce establishment of circa. 860 WTE.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within the Pathology Partnership and Barts Health at this band.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. To follow and understand the concepts of Quality Management.
2. Follow policies for quality control working to the specified standards.
3. Take corrective action or report to their line manager if work fails to meet the specified standards.
4. Assist in the achievement of all key performance indicators.
5. Participates in internal and external quality control.
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the recruitment information pack.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the advertised closing date, once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.
Please note: When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included for non-medical roles. This ensures fairness and consistency within our organization, as some of our sites fall under inner HCAS, while others are classified as outer HCAS.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
* A-levels in Science, GCSEs in Mathematics, English at C grade or above
* Degree in Biomedical Science (IBMS Accredited) or equivalent.
Desirable criteria
* Further study towards MSc in appropriate specialty
Experience
Essential criteria
* Post registration experience in working in a histopathology laboratory.
* Ability to produce high quality work.
* Hold no reservations in handling human body fluids, tissue, organs, or infected material in accordance with Health & Safety policies.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of immunocytochemistry (IHC)
Knowledge
Essential criteria
* IT Literate including use of Microsoft word, data analysis and use of Laboratory Information Management System
* Health & Safety legislation
* Good basic knowledge of the working of NHS trust pathology laboratories
* Knowledge of quality assurance
* Understanding of the processes and practices within histopathology
Desirable criteria
* Sound background knowledge of techniques used in diagnostic pathology.
Skills
Essential criteria
* Good interpersonal skills.
* Courteous
* Self-motivated.
* Able to show initiative.
* Able to work as part of a team or independently, as required.
* Very good organisational skills
* Good hand-eye coordination & manually dexterous
* Ability to show flexibility by performing multiple tasks.
* Good hand-eye coordination & manually dexterous
* Methodical, precise, numerate
* Ability to pick up techniques quickly.
Desirable criteria
* Previous NHS experience
* A commitment to contribute to the health and care of NHS patients.
Personal and people development
Essential criteria
* Ability to work under pressure and achieve deadlines and targets.
* Can think clearly and react appropriately under stress while remaining calm.
* Good team worker
* Ability to participate in educational and developmental programmes as set by the university and the Department.
Desirable criteria
* To be willing to undertake specialist portfolio training.
Communications
Essential criteria
* Good communication skills both written and verbal.
* Able to communicate and empathise with patients and other members of the public.
Specific requirements
Essential criteria
* Has experience in cellular Pathology.
* The post holder must be willing to have appropriate vaccinations
Desirable criteria
* Preferable histopathology techniques (Immunohistochemistry, Embedding, Microtomy, Quality, Dissection)
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment where staff treat one another with dignity and respect. We aim to create an equitable working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential.
As an Equal Opportunities Employer we actively support applications from individuals who apply under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme and will process your application as appropriate.
We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received and we regret that we are unable to provide notification if your application is unsuccessful.
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to Barts Health NHS Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Barts Health is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and to child protection. The Trust aims to ensure as far as is possible that anyone, paid or unpaid, who seeks to work in our organisation and who gains access to children, is safe to do so. As such, you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Check as part of the recruitment process if appointed to a post with direct access to children or vulnerable adults.
Barts Health promotes active travel as part of its goal to reach Net Zero. Each site is accessible by public transport and the Trust has a cycle to work scheme and some sites have Brompton Hire Pods.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date once a sufficient number of applications has been received.
Documents to download
* JD & PS (PDF, 721.0KB)
* Our Values and Behaviours (PDF, 334.9KB)
* Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders (PDF, 92.0KB)
* Candidate Information Pack (PDF, 549.5KB)
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