Main area Pathology Grade Band 3 Contract Permanent: Substantive Hours
* Full time
* Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (To cover core laboratory including early and late shifts, occasional weekends and bank holidays) Job ref 344-5296DCB
Employer East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site William Harvey Hospital Town Ashford Salary £24,937 - £26,598 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 01/10/2025 23:59
Senior Assistant Healthcare Scientist in Microbiology
Band 3
Job overview
We are looking for a Senior Assistant Healthcare Scientist within the Microbiology discipline (Virology and Serology) at William Harvey Hospital. Prospective candidates will be highly motivated, enthusiastic and educated to at least level 3 qualification or above (A-levels or equivalent). You will also have a keen eye for detail along with the ability to work accurately and efficiently. This Band 3 role is permanent, substantive and full-time 37.5 hours per week.
The post-holder will work in all sections of Microbiology and undertake duties to support Biomedical Scientists in the diagnosis of infectious disease. One of your most important responsibilities will be the supervision and training of Assistant Healthcare Scientists.
Microbiology is known for its inclusivity, strong team spirit and open friendly culture. There is great emphasis on cross communication between technical and diagnostic teams. We currently hold UKAS Accreditation, and are an IBMS training laboratory.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Pathology team at the Trust and to help shape future strategy and services for our local population.
The laboratory is open 7 days per week, with core hours covering 8.30am to 5pm. We are looking for applicants to cover a range of shifts including 1:4 weekends, bank holidays, and Late shifts working until 7pm, but are open to flexible working options within the core hours (no night working).
Main duties of the job
The role is based within Microbiology to support Biomedical Scientists in the specimen reception, and preparation and examination of biological samples. The post-holder will use a wide range of analysers and manual laboratory techniques. You will contribute to quality management and improvement, through production of high-quality results and maintaining ISO 15189 accreditation. You are flexible, able to prioritise and manage your time effectively, and able to remain calm under pressure. You possess good keyboard skills, a high level of accuracy, and are a good team player with a flexible approach to working.
Duties include:
· To be actively involved in the induction and training of new staff in serology reception, data entry duties and telephone enquiries.
· To raise orders on Business World and NHS Supply Chain.
· To liaise with Suppliers to deal with queries regarding goods (e.g. damage, shortage, non-delivery).
· To enter patient information onto the Pathology Laboratory Information Management System to ensure patient information is accurate and available in a timely manner.
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s vision, mission and values. The Supporting Information Section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated Behaviours. You will be expected to provide us with examples from work experience and / or personal life which demonstrate these values and behaviours.
Working for our organisation
We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five
hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.
Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in ‘Documents to download’.
If you have further queries please don’t hesitate to contact the line manager using the contact details below.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Level 3 qualification (A-levels or equivalent) or above (degree level).
* GCSE Maths and English (grade C or above) or equivalent
* High degree of literacy and numeracy
Skills and experience
* Experience of training others.
* Good communication and customer service skills.
* Use of laboratory Information systems (LIMS), Microsoft Word and Excel spreadsheets.
* Administrative, typing and/or word processing
* Supervisory skills, office management and/or customer care training.
* Some experience of working in a Microbiology lab, Healthcare, or Scientific environment
Knowledge
* Knowledge of Microbiology and virology processes and procedures.
* Knowledge of quality systems.
* Knowledge of the NHS or other public services.
* Knowledge of medical terminology.
Personal / professional attributes
* Ability to multi task Ability to work within a team
* Ability to achieve set targets within a specified timeframe
* Eye for detail, high level of accuracy and precision
Filmed in William Harvey and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother hospitals, the ‘We are the NHS’ campaign highlights the extraordinary work that staff across EKHUFT do every single day. As one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a population of over one million people, EKHUFT was perfectly placed to demonstrate the care, cutting-edge treatments, research, innovations and life-saving operations that the campaign needed.
There are lots of great opportunities at East Kent Hospitals, where staff are caring and put patients first, innovation flourishes and you can develop your career. We’re on an exciting journey of transformation. With a new Medical School at the centre of our community, a focus on research, clinical leadership and making our trust a rewarding and friendly place to work,
there’s never been a better time to join us.To find out more about east Kent visit our website at. The Trust fully supports the SAS Doctors Charter and is committed to their development through its CPD Framework.
We’ll close this job advert once we’ve received sufficient applications which may be before the closing date so please apply as soon as possible. We only accept online applications. If you have any difficulty with this please contact our Resourcing Team on 01227 866450 who are happy to help.
We have a relocation policy for eligible candidates, parking available at Trust sites but we encourage other options, like car sharing or public transport.
The Trust is committed to supporting flexible working to fulfil our pledge as part of The Trust’s People Strategy to help staff to achieve a healthy work/life balance. Please speak with your Recruiting Manager for further information on how this can be managed alongside department expectations and requirements.
The ability to converse easily and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for all customer facing roles.
Most positions require a Disclosure and Barring check and will be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Posts working regularly or unsupervised with children or vulnerable adults require an enhanced check.
Applicants for eligible roles requiring Tier 2 sponsorship must meet UK Visas and Immigration eligibility criteria.
We operate a no-smoking policy on all our sites and grounds.
You can search for and apply for roles directly on our website.
If you are applying via NHS Jobs your application will be sent to our recruitment system TRAC. All subsequent information will be generated from TRAC so you won’t be able to see the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs and we won’t be able to respond to e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to us transferring your application and details to our system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records. Good luck with your application, we’ll contact you via email so please check your junk/spam folders.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Name Claire Warren Job title Chief Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology Email address claire.warren@nhs.net Telephone number 01233 616760 Additional information
Alternatively you can contact Mike Dawson, Chief Biomedical Scientist in Microbiology on 01233 616760 ormichaeldawson1@nhs.net
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