Medical Laboratory Assistant

at  Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services
(A joint venture with Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust , Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, East Surrey, Ashford & St Peters Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust)
Are you looking for a MLA position with a desire to work as part of the largest NHS led Pathology Services in the UK? You will be based at Wexham Park Hospital.
We are looking for an energetic, enthusiastic and well-motivated individual with good scientific background to complement our existing MLA team. We need someone who is proactive and shows initiative in working with the team and helps maintain our UKAS accreditation.
Our laboratory is fully accredited with UKAS, MHRA and HCPC training status. You will be expected to work according to our working time compliant shift system (7-15:15, 9-17:15 and 12:00-20:00hrs), weekends and on rare occasions may be required to work at the Frimley Park Hospital site to maintain quality, training and service requirements.
The postholder will assist in the preparation of analytical work for the Bacteriology Department across a range of department work areas under the supervision of a Registered Biomedical Scientist. The postholder is required to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) at all times for any tasks carried out. There is a requirement to communicate with pathology staff, hospital staff, porters, drivers and couriers.
The postholder will provide support to the BMS staff through sorting, numbering and entering onto Laboratory Information Management System. The postholder will be required to operate the department waste disposal systems including use of autoclaves in a safe manner.
The diagnostic work of the department includes processing, for example, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, faeces, sputum, tissues and diverse secretions. Processed samples are then interpreted for the presence of pathogens, these could be bacterial, fungal or parasitic.
Essential qualities expected are efficiency, being well organised, having good communication skills and attention to detail. Good keyboard skills are desirable. In addition, you should be a reliable individual who is able to demonstrate good practical skills and work as part of a team.
You must be keen to embrace new ways of working and develop your knowledge and skills and able to participate in the shift system.
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust provides NHS hospital services for around 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.
As well as delivering excellent general hospital services to local people, we provide specialist heart attack, vascular, stroke, spinal, cystic fibrosis and plastic surgery services across a much wider area.
We have three main hospitals - Frimley Park in Frimley near Camberley, Heatherwood in Ascot and Wexham Park near Slough.
Our three core values , and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future .
We are also proud to host the Defence Medical Group South East at Frimley Park with military surgical, medical and nursing personnel working alongside the hospital’s NHS staff providing care to patients in all specialties.
To keep the laboratory manager informed of all matters regarding laboratory procedures and help with the smooth running of the department
To assist in monitoring stock control of consumables held in storesTo ensure the cleaning and defrosting of equipment, such as fridges, freezers and incubators
To inform a team leader, section head or Biomedical Scientist of any refrigerator/freezer temperatures that are out of range on a daily basis
Works in cooperation with BMS staff to ensure workload is processed in a timely and efficient manner
Displays and maintains an appropriate level of IT skills. Is able to input patient and request data, maintain and amend patient records, interrogate the laboratory and hospital databases and perform basic word processing and spreadsheet work
Performs a range of administrative tasks in all sections of the laboratory as required. This includes archiving and retrieval of specimens and data, maintenance of archived material and audit trails
Ensures efficient use of resources and is aware of stock levels and rotation, storage conditions, batch numbers and expiry dates, thus ensuring the viability of reagents and/or blood products used
Refer to attached JD and Person Specification for further information

Please refer the Job description for details