Employer: Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Gloucestershire Royal Hospital
Town: Gloucester
Salary: £46,148 - £52,809 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 03/03/2025 23:59
Senior Biomedical Scientist, Band 7 - Virology
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust! We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
The Microbiology laboratory is located on the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital site and provides an extensive service to two acute hospitals, smaller local hospitals and to GPs in Gloucestershire and south Worcestershire.
Job overview
This is an excellent opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced Biomedical Scientist to join a large and busy UKAS-accredited laboratory.
Main duties of the job
The department has a well-equipped laboratory offering a comprehensive service including automated urine analysis, molecular diagnostics, liquid TB culture, Virology, Mycology and Andrology.
The successful candidate will be reliable, enthusiastic, motivated and forward-thinking. They will be able to demonstrate the necessary skills to lead a small technical team within the laboratory, together with specialist technical knowledge in serology and virology services. The post-holder will be part of the departmental senior management team.
Candidates must have current HCPC registration and substantial previous experience of working in an NHS Microbiology laboratory at a Specialist BMS level. It is expected that this experience will include a significant amount in a clinical virology or molecular department.
You will be expected to participate in the weekend and bank holiday rotas, as required by service needs.
Working for our organisation
The Department of Microbiology is based on the GRH hospital site in Gloucester. The laboratory provides an extensive service to the two hospitals and GP surgeries in Gloucestershire. The laboratory has a staff team of about 60 people, including scientific and medical roles. The core working hours are 0830 to 1700, Monday to Friday, but all staff help to provide the services outside core hours. This includes weekend and Bank Holiday working.
The department has a long history of training and developing staff in different roles. It is approved as a training laboratory by the Institute of Biomedical Science, and has been accredited by UKAS to the ISO15189 standards.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
* Postgraduate qualification in Medical Microbiology or Virology, equivalent to MSc level or FIBMS
* Registration as a Biomedical Scientist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
* Substantial experience of working as a Specialist BMS in Microbiology or Virology, including significant periods of working in a clinical virology or molecular department
* Specialist training, qualifications and experience in the relevant section(s)
* IBMS Specialist Portfolio in Medical Microbiology or Virology, or equivalent experience
Technical Roles
* To be able to work competently in the virology section, taking overall day-to-day responsibility for the service provided
* To maintain a high standard of professional competence and current knowledge of the relevant tests and service, maintaining evidence of continuing professional development
* To act as a source of specialist virology advice, providing advice to users and departmental staff where needed
* To communicate with users and external stakeholders when needed to ensure quality of service is maintained
* To use specialist knowledge to determine the relevant tests to be carried out on samples
* To ensure all new equipment and tests are appropriately verified or validated before use on clinical samples
* To participate in the procurement of equipment, reagents and consumables relevant to the virology section
* To authorise results relevant to the virology section
* To ensure all work conforms to the procedures set out in laboratory policies and SOPs
* To ensure all work conforms to the standards required by ISO15189 accreditation
Supervisory Duties
* To ensure all safety procedures are followed within the laboratory
* To be responsible for staff and work allocation within the section
* To undertake induction for new staff
* To undertake staff appraisals and produce personal development plans for assigned staff
* To participate in the recruitment, selection and training of new staff
* To represent the department in external meetings or conferences as required
Person specification
Qualifications / Experience
* BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science (or equivalent qualification)
* Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (Biomedical Scientist)
* Postgraduate qualification equivalent to MSc or FIBMS
* Previous substantial experience of working in a UK diagnostic microbiology / virology laboratory at Specialist BMS level
* Proven bench skills and demonstrable knowledge of current developments within virology
The health and wellbeing of our staff and patients remains the priority of the Trust. Vaccination remains the best chance we have of conquering COVID and the Trust encourages everyone to take up this offer.
Please note, this vacancy may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested.
Committed to safeguarding our community
If applicable for the post, all successful candidates will be required to pay for their own Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The Trust is a safeguarding employer committed to the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Committed to supporting service personnel
As part of our commitment to support Service Personnel, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for all qualifying Service and Ex-Service Personnel. To qualify for a guaranteed interview, candidates must meet the essential criteria for the post.
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