Specialist Biomedical Scientist - Microbiology

We hope to be welcoming you to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals team soon; we’ve shown you exactly why we’re 'a great place to work', now it’s time to see for yourself! Have a look at our current vacancies down below and make the first step to starting a fantastic new career.

Job overview

Are you fascinated by viruses, find mycology magical or love following the clues to identify an unusual organism? Then you are the right person to join our team of Specialist Biomedical Scientists in Microbiology. We have a fantastic opportunity for a Band 6 Specialist HCPC Biomedical Scientist to join our team based at Royal Preston Hospital. Previous experience of working in an NHS laboratory would be desirable. We are a very busy, well-equipped laboratory where we process over 500,000 specimens a year. We receive a variety of patient samples, such as urine, faeces, blood and swabs from both hospital and community patients in the Preston & South Ribble area. We are accredited by UKAS (ISO15189) and are an IBMS approved training laboratory.

Main duties of the job

• As a Specialist Biomedical Scientist, you are an integral part of the team; responsible for identifying pathogens which cause disease either by interpreting bacterial cultures or by analysing serological results in order to aid the diagnosis of infection.
• We provide the information that medical staff use to determine appropriate treatment options to help our patients quickly and effectively.
• You would be involved with the maintenance and troubleshooting of various automated systems including BacTAlert, Vitek2, MALDI-TOF, Vidas and Cobas 4800.
• You will need to be enthusiastic about providing an excellent standard of work which contributes to patient care.
• You should be highly motivated, computer literate, demonstrate good interpersonal skills, and always remain respectful of the Trust values.
• You will be supported in your training by our dedicated team of experienced staff who will ensure all your training needs are met to become competent in all areas.

This position is full time working 37.5 hours a week between the hours of 8am and 8pm, weekends and Bank Holidays; part-time hours may be considered. Once established, you will partake in the out of hours on-call service for urgent samples.

Working for our organisation

We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria. Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path. You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Duties to include but not be limited to:
• To direct more junior staff regarding technical and work issues.
• Dealing with telephone enquiries from nurses, clinicians, healthcare practitioners, giving technical advice on results and use of the service.
• Appropriate recording of Inventory management within the section to ensure accurate stock management.
• Be able to work on a shift rota, covering 24 hours, seven days a week.
• To assist in effective verbal and written communication by qualified and unqualified staff.
• To communicate, as appropriate, using information technology.
• Report any issues to an appropriate person.
• Perform a range of laboratory tests autonomously and demonstrate an understanding of the scientific basis for tests and the disease processes under investigation.
• Use the main laboratory computer system in accordance with service requirements.

Person specification

Qualifications

• HCPC registered with significant experience in Microbiology.
• Completed Microbiology Specialist Portfolio or equivalent.
• Uses continuing professional development as a means of self-development.
• IBMS membership.

Knowledge

• Experience as a specialist in a clinical pathology laboratory.
• Experience of working in a microbiology clinical pathology laboratory.
• Understanding of health and safety legislation pertaining to clinical laboratories.
• Understand the components of a quality management system.
• Understanding of laboratory quality issues.
• Problem-solving ability.
• Familiar with Pathology LIMS.

Thanks for taking the time to view this advert; we’re looking forward to receiving your application. You should be aware that the vacancy may close earlier than the published date if sufficient applications are received so it would be best to apply as soon as you can. We’ll contact you by e-mail to update you on the progress of your application so please check the e-mail account that you applied from (including spam/junk) regularly.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, neurodiversity or veteran status are encouraged to apply for this post.

To support you in your application process we’ve created a What we can offer you guide that shows what you can expect when you join our hospitals. The guide includes links to our strategic aims and objectives as well as our values, development support and rewards and benefits. We recognise that the recruitment process may present barriers for some and you may need personal adjustments to enable you to participate in our recruitment process. Please make contact with the recruitment team at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.