Medical Laboratory Assistant - Microbiology

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust; Salisbury; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job description

Job overview

The Microbiology department currently has vacancies for medical laboratory assistants. We are looking for a friendly and cheerful person, who is practical and has an interest in science.

They will be part of a support team and be required to maintain competency in all relevant areas of the laboratory. Previous medical laboratory experience would be desirable, but full training will be provided.

Shifts cover 09:00-20:00, including weekends and Bank Holidays. Full time and part time roles are available.

Please be aware that this is not a trainee Biomedical Scientist position and is highly unlikely to lead to one.

Main duties of the job

Following full training, the post holders will be an integral part of the Microbiology department, responsible for processing a variety of samples using both manual and automated systems in routine bacteriology, serology & molecular areas of the department. Dealing with telephone calls from clinical users will also be part of the role.

Candidate must have good Numeracy and Literacy skills and be confident in the use of Information Technology. Previous experience of working within a Pathology laboratory and/or working to tight schedules and standard operating procedures would be an advantage.

The successful candidate will be literate, numerate and have excellent keyboard skills.

Working for our organisation

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (SFT) is an innovative hospital with a proud heritage and over 250 years of experience behind us. Here we're driven to deliver an outstanding experience for everyone and have been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment we continue to provide for our patients and also our staff.

We are an acute Trust, rated "Good" by the CQC, with a track record of high performance providing regional and super regional specialist services such as: Burns, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery, Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Wessex Rehabilitation, Spires Cleft Centre and the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre. We have about 470 beds and employ over 4000 staff.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. We think working here is pretty rewarding. You can access a range of NHS discounts, receive a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme. On-site benefits include car parking (fee applies), leisure centre, day nursery and holiday play scheme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached Job description and person specification for full details of roles and responsibilities.

Person specification

Knowledge, training & experience

Essential criteria

1. GCSE English
2. GCSE Maths

Desirable criteria

1. Previous laboratory experience

Planning & organisational skills

Essential criteria

1. Follow protocols
2. Working to deadlines/pressure

Analytical skills

Essential criteria

1. Adhere to SOPs

Personal qualities

Essential criteria

1. Team work
2. Communication skills

We offer excellent benefits that help make SDH a great place to work. These include but aren't limited to:

1. Holiday starting at 27 days plus Bank Holidays rising to 29 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years for Agenda for Change staff
2. Holiday entitlement for Medical and Dental staff starts at 27 days for Junior/Senior Clinical Fellows, Specialty Doctors and rises to 32 days after 5 years. Consultant entitlement starts at 32 days and rises to 34 days after 7 years
3. An additional day's leave to celebrate your birthday (after 12 months & non contractual)
4. Access to a career average revalued earnings pension scheme
5. Life assurance if a member of the pension scheme
6. An extensive Health and Wellbeing offer to help you deal with life's challenges
7. Exclusive deals and discounts websites saving you money on everyday purchases, treats for the family, eating out and utility bills for home
8. Cycle to work scheme
9. Uniform provided (where required)
10. On site Day Nursery and Holiday Play scheme
11. On site health and fitness club
12. On site car parking
13. Opportunities to get on - take advantage of our ongoing learning opportunities and training, to help you achieve the job and career you want.

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications. We will not accept any applications or queries via agencies, under any circumstances.

SEASONAL RESPIRATORY VACCINATIONS

We continue to encourage and support our staff to participate in the seasonal respiratory vaccination programme in order to protect themselves, colleagues and their patients.

GETTING TO WORK

We offer parking on site at Salisbury District Hospital, a daily charge applies. We encourage our staff to utilise other green methods of getting to work such as cycling or walking where possible, and our Trust is well connected through the bus services to the city centre and other areas.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY

We are committed to making Salisbury an inclusive and welcoming place for every single staff member, regardless of who they are and where they come from. Equality sits at the heart of everything we do, and we ensure that all employees have equal opportunity to develop, to apply for promotions and to work flexibly.

The Trust actively promotes a work environment free from harassment and discrimination and provides training for staff to ensure this happens. We also closely monitor recruitment activity, training, development and employment practices to ensure equality of practice with regard to race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, martial status and age.

OTHER INFORMATION

If this job requires you to have DBS check to enable you to properly fulfil the requirements of the job, on appointment, you will be required to replay the cost of obtaining a DBS check and this amount will be reclaimed in instalments from your salary. Many staff use the DBS update service at a cost of £13 per annum but you need to sign up for this via their website.

Please read the job description and person specification carefully and ensure that your application reflects the knowledge, skills and experience required.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

1. JD_Medical Laboratory Assistant (PDF, 400.6KB)
2. Facts about Salisbury (PDF, 214.5KB)