Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA)

Main area Blood Sciences Grade NHS AfC: Band 2 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (24 hour shift working.) Hours Part time – 35 hours per week (Out of hours and shift working requirements.) Job ref 262-A-25-7213576

Employer North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Cumberland Infirmary Town Carlisle Salary £23,615 pro rata per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 23/07/2025 23:59

Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA)

NHS AfC: Band 2

Job overview

Medical Laboratory Assistant Band 2 Cumberland Infirmary , 35 hours per week – Fixed Term 12 Months

Provision of a comprehensive service to North Cumbria Hospitals and primary care Trusts. The departments offer core analyses on a frequent basis, processing urgent requests and a variety of specialised tests. The majority of the pathology service is provided on a 24/7 basis. Out of hours cover is delivered via extended working arrangements, on call, or shift patterns according to the urgency and volume of the work.

Main duties of the job

Support biomedical scientists in a range of laboratory duties including the processing of clinical specimens for testing, registration of patients onto the pathology computer system, specimen reception duties, telephone enquiries and general housekeeping duties

Working for our organisation

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding healthcare services to the population of North Cumbria. The Trust is committed to creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout our county.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time’:

· Being a clinically led organisation

· Quality and safety at the heart of our Trust

· A positive patient experience every time

· A great place to work

· Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed.

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants moving to the region for certain posts. Please see our Policy for eligible vacancies .

· Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

· If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

For candidates applying using a Hotmail account or have strict firewall settings please ensure the following:

• Junk Mail is checked regularly

Disclosure and Barring Service:

On 28 November 2020, the new Disclosure and Barring Service filtering rules will come into effect.

The changes mean that:

• youth cautions, reprimands and final warnings will no longer be subject to automatic disclosure
• the multiple conviction rule has been removed, meaning that if an individual has more than one conviction, regardless of offence type or time passed, each conviction will be considered against the remaining rules individually, rather than being automatically disclosed.

If you are unsure about whether you need to disclose certain criminal record information, free confidential advice may be sought from one of the charity bodies listed below. These bodies can advise you on what you are legally required to declare and may also be able to advise you on how you can disclose criminal record information to a prospective employer and your legal rights when doing so.

Unlock – Tel: 01634 247350, email advice@unlock.org.uk or complete the online form on the Unlock website

The Trust is committed to safeguarding adults and children therefore if the post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended) the successful candidate(s) will be subject to a criminal records check with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £18 + Administration cost of £3.85 = £21.85. Deducted at £6.85 from 1st month salary and £5 deducted from salary over following 3 months.

Enhanced Check: £38 + administration cost of £3.90 = £41.90. Deducted at £11.90 from 1st month salary and £10 deducted from salary over following 3 months.

As part of the one of the largest employers in the UK NCIC future employees will have also access to the following benefits.

A lease car may be available for this position; further details will be provided upon appointment if applicable.

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

Access to NHS discounts with retailers and leisure companies

EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

These schemes are subject to availability

Person specification

Qualifications

• GCSE in science or equivalent.
• NVQ 2 in clinical laboratory support or equivalent.

Skills and Aptitudes

• Able to work as part of a team.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Able to prioritise work to meet deadlines in a busy environment
• Good hand-eye coordination.

Personal Circumstance

• Meticulous
• Motivation

Other requirements

• Flexibility in working hours, including weekends and evenings

Knowledge and Experience

• Work in a customer service environment.
• Equality issues
• Laboratory work.
• NHS systems.
• Interest in sciences or healthcare related fields

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Name Mr. Graham Woodhall Job title Blood Sciences Operational Manager Email address graham.woodhall@ncic.nhs.uk Telephone number 01228 616894 Additional information

Sushil Kumar Blood Sciences Support Manager

Sushil.Kumar@ncic.nhs.uk 01228 814542

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