County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
We are seeking an individual with excellent literacy and numeracy skills to work as a Medical Laboratory Assistant in our very busy Department of Blood Sciences which processes 1500-2000 samples per site each day.
The Medical Laboratory Assistant role involves working as a member of staff providing support to Specimen Reception, Biochemistry, Immunology, Haematology, and Blood Transfusion. You will be working alongside a team of Biomedical Scientists and Associate Practitioners.
Main duties of the job
Main tasks include:
1. Prioritising urgent and AE samples to avoid delays and ensure best patient care.
2. Receipt of samples from within the Hospital via a vacuum tube system or in person and from GP surgeries via courier services.
3. Booking a large volume of patient samples onto the Laboratory Computer System and ensuring the correct test requests are inputted. There are thousands of different test codes and you must have excellent attention to detail to select the correct codes.
4. Centrifuging samples and correctly loading the samples onto the relevant laboratory analysers.
5. Organising referral and packaging and sending of samples to other Trust sites and to other Trusts nationwide.
6. Answering reception and telephone queries and liaising with other Trust staff and the general public.
7. Receiving deliveries, ensuring they go to the correct department within Pathology, and unpacking and organising the stock as requested.
8. Scanning request forms and ensuring printed reports are sent to the correct requesting departments, GPs, or clinics in a timely manner.
Please refer to the Job Description and Personal Specification for full details.
About us
We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield, and Weardale as well as over 80 other community-based settings and providing care in patients' homes.
We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.
Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.
Job responsibilities
You should be able to demonstrate good keyboard skills and be computer literate and have experience of working in a reception or clerical environment. Previous Laboratory experience would be an advantage. If you are well organised, have excellent attention to detail, are a good communicator, team player, conscientious and flexible this job may suit you. You must be able to ask questions and take on board information given.
The Reception team work on a 24/7 shift rota which includes day shifts, late shifts, night shifts, weekend day shifts, and night shifts, Bank Holiday day shifts and night shifts including Christmas Day. Late shift after 5pm and weekend day shifts are busy times and these are times this post would be most likely to be rostered. On weekends, bank holidays, and night shifts you will often be the sole Pathology Reception worker on site (there will be Biomedical Scientists on site also).
Person Specification
Special Requirements
* Able to handle blood and body samples
* Able to lift and move multiple boxes/cartons of up to 20kg
* Able to work flexibly
* Able to participate in shift working, weekend working, and bank holidays
Special Skills & Knowledge
* Follow protocols and instructions accurately
* High level of attention to detail
* Ability to concentrate for long periods
* Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
* Microsoft Office applications
Experience
* Clerical work
* Previous hospital laboratory experience
* Employment with public interaction
Qualifications
* Basic Numeracy and literacy
* NVQ 2 CLS or equivalent
* Science and/or maths GCSE or above
* IBMS Certificate of Achievement Part 1
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
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