Consultant Microbiologist in Southend-on-Sea

Main area: Microbiology

Grade: Consultant

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 10 sessions per week (On-call 1 in 3)

Job ref: 390-MR-CSS-SO-3492

Employer: Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Employer type: NHS

Site: Southend

Salary: £113,565 - £150,569 Per Annum (Pro Rata for Part Time)

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 30/06/2026 23:59

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute hospital provider in the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), which is a system of health and care partners working together for our local population. Within Mid and South Essex there are 149 GP practices, operating from over 200 sites, forming 27 Primary Care Networks and one Ambulance Trust. There are also three main community and mental health service providers who work together through a community collaborative.

We collaborate with other valuable partners, including three Healthwatch organisations, nine voluntary and community sector organisations and three top tier local authorities, with seven district, borough and city councils, as well as our local universities.

We are currently looking for a Consultant Microbiologist to join our Pathology team based at Southend. This post represents one of a number of opportunities within our hospitals and our partner hospitals as we consolidate into a group hospital model. Our focus is around expanding our services, to serve our thriving and vibrant community.

We offer you a good working environment with flexible working opportunities, consistent with the needs of patients and with the way that people live their lives. We will also provide you with personal development, access to appropriate training for your job and the support to succeed. We will provide support and opportunities for you to maintain your health, well-being and safety. You will also be given opportunity to engage in decisions that affect you and the services you provide, individually through representative organisations and through local partnership working arrangements. All we need from you is the necessary expertise and good people attitude.

Whilst microbiology across three sites is one department, there is autonomy for each site as the workload at each site warrants microbiologists based at respective individual sites. At Southend site, there are 2 full time consultant microbiologists at any one time during working day, plus a junior speciality microbiology doctor who rotates between Basildon and Southend sites.

Main duties of the job:

• The Consultant will be responsible, with their consultant colleagues, for the provision, maintenance and development of the laboratory and clinical microbiology and infection control service.
• The post holders will work in collaboration with the staff in Microbiology, other Pathology disciplines and the Public and Environmental Health services to ensure a service appropriate to the needs of the hospital, and the Care Commissioning Group (CCG).

Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and well being of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers. We aim to make the most of our skills and experiences so we can become the best we can be. As one organisation we will recruit the finest and retain more specialist staff due to more employment opportunities across our Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

For full details of this interesting and varied role, please see attached Job Description. We look forward to receiving your application.

Person specification:

• Qualifications: MBBS or equivalent, GMC specialist register
• Knowledge: Comprehensive knowledge of Microbiology demonstrated through work history and supporting information. Application demonstrates good knowledge of the structures and culture of the NHS, roles, responsibilities and relationships across the MDT and the multi-professional team. Recent published clinical research in peer reviewed journal.
• Experience: Experience of supervising undergraduates, junior doctors and other staff; ability to teach clinical skills.

You must have appropriate UK professional registration. 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.