Medical Equipment Library Assistant in Northampton

A vacancy has arisen in our Medical Equipment Library for an enthusiastic, motivated and friendly person to join our small team. This is a part time position at 30 hours a week, 08:00 – 14:00 Monday to Friday. We loan and collect over 1000 medical devices every month within the hospital and support our Clinical Engineering Team in the provision and maintenance of devices. Previous experience is not essential as full training will be provided, but experience of working in healthcare would be beneficial. You must have excellent communication skills and the ability to work on your own initiative as well as part of a team.

Main duties include:

• Supply, control and monitor medical devices from the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) to all clinical areas as required within Northampton General Hospital Trust.
• Plan and organise your own workload and conduct the work without routine supervision.
• Day to day organisation of the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) to ensure a safe and effective standard of MEL service is provided.
• Control and maintain stock levels within the MEL.
• Provide assistance and guidance to clinical staff in the use of library medical devices.
• Recognise faulty/damaged medical devices and take remedial action.
• Decontamination of all MEL devices after use.
• Use of various computer applications to track MEL devices and order spare parts.

Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.

Our Excellence Values include:

• Compassion
• Accountability
• Respect
• Integrity
• Courage

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities. We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners. The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative. We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities:

• Report to the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) Team Leader daily.
• Advise clinical staff on various medical devices available from the MEL (infusion pumps, syringe drivers, feeding pumps, specialist mattresses & cushions, vital signs monitors, scanners etc.).
• Deliver and collect MEL devices to and from wards and departments as required, ensuring all accessories are complete.
• Comply with deadlines for the provision of urgent equipment.
• Communicate with ward staff daily and act on any queries or concerns they may have in relation to the medical devices they have borrowed from the MEL.
• Ensure that all devices leaving the MEL are in full working order.
• Ensure that all devices in the MEL have an asset number and current service verification date.
• Maintain an electronic inventory of all MEL devices and accessories.
• Maintain an electronic record of all loans using accurate & timely data input.
• Respond to requests for MEL devices under all conditions of urgency and keep a record of all requests.
• Prioritise customer requests in a safe and effective manner.
• Clean and decontaminate all returned library devices, using appropriate personal protective equipment, to prevent cross contamination in clinical use.
• Inspect and perform functional checks of returned equipment to ensure it is in good working order ready for clinical use.
• Responsible for accessory stock control.
• Ensure that the correct accessories always accompany the device.
• Communicate with ward/department managers regarding recharging lost accessories from borrowed equipment.
• Recharge battery powered devices in the MEL and replace batteries of library equipment as necessary.
• Recognise faulty/damaged accessories and provide replacements.
• Undertake first line fault-finding and basic equipment repairs as necessary.
• Recognise faulty/damaged devices & accessories and liaise with the appropriate team to rectify faults as necessary.
• Maintain an accurate log of patients who leave NGH with loan Medical Equipment Library devices and arrange for return of this equipment when no longer required.
• Plan maintenance, servicing, and upgrades of equipment in the library.
• Plan, prioritise and organise a range of activities relevant to own remit.
• Contribute to the development of the Medical Equipment Library service by proposing changes to working practices or procedures.
• Implement practice & procedure standards and policies for Medical Equipment Library service.
• Accurately use all manual and computerised information systems relating to Medical Equipment Library devices.
• Responsible for scheduling and prioritising own work within area of practice.

Education, Experience, And Training:

• Ensure own continual development and education to maintain knowledge and understanding of current regulations, policies and techniques relevant to the maintenance and management of medical devices.
• Attend internal and external training courses as required.
• Assist in training of new team members and the continued development of the clinical engineering team, providing advice on the procedures and routines employed.
• Provide advice on the technical operation and user maintenance of medical equipment covered by the role to clinical staff.

Communication:

• Regular communication with staff who request and return devices and with whom a good working relationship is essential.
• Communicate with porters who cover the out of hours MEL service.
• Communicate with suppliers and all external bodies as necessary.
• Communicate with patients who have loan equipment outside the hospital.

Person specification:

Education:

• Essential Criteria: GCSE Level education (grade D or above) or equivalent.

Knowledge & Experience:

• Essential criteria: Competent IT Skills, Customer service experience.
• Desirable criteria: Healthcare Experience, Medical Equipment Experience.

Skills & Abilities:

• Good communication skills.
• Planning & organisational skills.
• Dexterity for cleaning & maintaining equipment.
• Physical ability in the frequent movement of equipment (lifting and carrying objects 2-5kg and pushing loads over 15kg on a trolley).
• Ability to work alone and on own initiative.
• Ability to juggle different pieces of work at one time.
• Team worker.
• Good customer service skills.