Medical Laboratory Assistant, Sample Reception Department - Watford General Hospital
Watford General Hospital, Vicarage Road, Watford, WD18 0HB
Up to £25,800 per annum DOE
Job Title: Medical Laboratory Assistant
Department: Sample Reception
Location: Watford General Hospital, Vicarage Road, Watford, WD18 0HB
Contract /Hours: Permanent, Full Time (37.5 hours per week)
Salary range: Up to £25,800 per annum DOE
About us:
Sonic Healthcare is an internationally renowned healthcare provider with a demonstrable track record of medical services across the world. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Sonic is an ASX Top 50 company that has grown to become one of the world’s leading healthcare providers, specialising in pathology, radiology and primary care medical centres. We have operations in Australia, the USA, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.
Sonic Healthcare UK encompasses the two main entities in the UK, The Doctors Laboratory (TDL) and Health Services Laboratories (HSL). HSL is a partnership between The Doctors Laboratory (TDL), Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH). HSL was formed to provide pathology services to the NHS Trusts and has expanded further to provide services to other NHS Trusts. Over 3,500 staff work at Sonic Healthcare UK, primarily under the TDL or HSL banner.
Our purpose is to deliver medically-led diagnostics, innovation, value and long-term investment to healthcare. With our core laboratory based at The Halo Building in London WC1H 9AX, we also have an expanding site in Manchester as well as smaller hospital-based laboratories across the country. We maintain rigorously high standards of quality, whilst also delivering efficiencies to healthcare through careful workforce planning, pioneering technology and significant investment in infrastructure and IT.
About the role:
A vacancy has arisen for a Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA) in our Sample Reception Department based at ESL in Watford General Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital, following the implementation of a new Pathology services programme commissioned by the Herts and West Essex Integrated Care Board, with services started on the 1st March 2025.
This role is for a permanent worker required to assist biomedical scientists working at Watford Essential Services Laboratory and may be of value to individuals seeking practical laboratory experience in a busy diagnostic environment, especially those considering a future career in Biomedical Science or related health fields. The role provides an excellent opportunity to gain insight into routine laboratory procedures, specimen handling, and quality standards within an accredited clinical setting. The permanent role may include unsocial hours enhancement and there is an expectation that the successful candidate will be required to rotate into different shifts (early, core, late and overnight) to discharge their role effectively. Additionally, there will be an expectation to transition to the new hub site at Croxley Green from Summer 2026.
The role will involve performing routine preparation and tests, including basic analytical processes, accurately and efficiently under the supervision of the MLA Supervisors and qualified BMS staff, bringing any unusual test requests or results to the attention of the appropriate member of staff. The successful candidate will also be required to enter patient requests into the pathology computer system (WinPath and Helix) and carry out clerical and technical tasks in accordance with sample handling procedures. Staff will be required to assist in handling and distribution of incoming and outgoing goods, equipment, specimens and reagents as well as managing the laboratory users’ Helpdesk.
The laboratory operates a 24/7 service so the successful candidate will be expected to participate in shifts to cover this timeframe.
At HSL we offer a variety of excellent staff benefits including:
• Training and development opportunities – supporting professional development
• Annual salary review - No banding restrictions: As we are a private company we are not restricted by salary bandings and so are able to negotiate appropriate salaries based on experience. This also means that annual salary reviews do not hit a band ceiling.
• Discounted gym membership – we have a corporate gym membership scheme with Better Gyms
• Cash healthcare plan – cash back on a variety of healthcare costs including dentist and opticians
• Sick Pay Entitlement – 5 paid days in the first year of employment, 20 days thereafter
• Permanent Health Insurance and Death in Service Cover
• Life Assurance – providing salary continuation for long term illness (six months qualifying period)
• Employee Assistance Programme – supporting staff wellbeing
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme – interest free loan for the cost of annual travel ticket
• Perkbox – Access to additional staff perks and benefits such as high street discounts
• Company Pension Scheme – company and staff contributions which increase with service
• Competitive annual leave allowance - 28 days
• Flexible working hours – we support and offer flexibility around shift patterns and working schedule