Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for you to join University Hospitals Birmingham, one of the largest teaching hospitals in England with state of the art facilities and employing over 20,000 colleagues across 4 sites (Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals).

We are looking to employ a Medical Laboratory Assistant as assist our HCPC registered Biomedical scientists (BMS) within Clinical Microbiology.

As an MLA, the post holder will have some knowledge of biomedical procedures and is responsible for processing patient specimens for biomedical testing and maintaining all records involved in the diagnostic pathway after receiving appropriate training.

This includes : receiving, sorting, labelling and preparing specimens; resolving issues such as mislabelled or missing samples, performing reception duties, data entry, dealing with telephone enquiries and relaying test results to clinicians and other healthcare workers, performing general housekeeping duties.

Depending on competency assessment the post holder may be required to operate specialist laboratory equipment. The post holder will provide support for and assist with the induction and training of new entrant medical laboratory staff and support with Q-pulse and the laboratory QMS where appropriate.

The post holder will be guided by standard operating procedures (SOPs). The post holder will deal with routine enquiries and know when to seek advice or when to refer non-routine matters to a supervisor.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for people who work well within a team and have a patient focused attitude with quality in mind. Although this position is predominantly to work Mon-Fri 08 : 00 - 16 : 00. In providing a 24 hour, 7 day health service, there may be a requirement for working at weekends and on statutory and public holidays.

Main Duties

• To safely handle, use and dispose of biological samples.
• To receive, check conditions and record details of incoming goods
• To collect, receive, sort, check patient and request details, label and process and where appropriate, dispatch patient samples in line with Departmental procedure.
• To report to the relevant supervisor or manager any errors or incidents in line with Departmental procedure
• Prepare reagents according to standard operating procedures as directed by a supervisor or manager
• Perform a range of laboratory tests following standard operating procedures that require speed, accuracy and good hand eye co-ordination.
• Perform daily housekeeping duties for example tidy and clean benches and work areas, cleaning, decontamination and maintenance of laboratory equipment,
• Perform monitoring and recording of equipment for example temperature monitoring inform a supervisor or manager of any non-conformances.
• An understanding of automated instruments and equipment. Maintenance and problem solving will be crucial.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to :

Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;Offer our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reach their true potential, achieve their ambitions and thrive in their work. This is more than words. We are taking action. Our commitment to an inclusive culture is embedded at all levels of the organisation where every voice is heard, driven by our diverse and active staff networks, and at Board level by the Fairness Taskforce led by our CEO. We nurture a culture which empowers staff to challenge discriminatory behaviours and to enable people to bring their 'whole self' to a kinder, more connected and bold place to work.

University Hospitals Birmingham is a Smoke-Free premises hospital.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Desirable

Experience

Essential

Desirable

Additional Criteria

Essential