Senior Biomedical Scientist

at  Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Our Pathology Directorate provides a comprehensive service to the community and our acute hospitals serving a population in excess of 600,000. Clinical Biochemistry is accredited by UKAS to ISO: 15189 and processes over 10 million tests annually throughout our sites.
The post holder’s base will be Whiston Hospital although the successful candidate will be flexible to work across any of the sites where the Laboratory currently provides a service including Southport, Ormskirk and St Helens Hospital. There are Emergency Departments at both Whiston and Southport Hospitals, a paediatric ED at Ormskirk, together with the Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston and Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport.
The successful candidate will be a Senior or Specialist BMS exhibiting a high level of knowledge and skill required for the management of complex automation and the training and development of new BMS and support staff. You will have experience of lone specialist working outside of core hours, have a flexible approach, be highly motivated and organised and be a strong team player fully committed to patient care. Previous experience in a supervisory capacity would be a distinct advantage.
As a section lead in Biochemistry you will be responsible for the governance, performance and quality of all aspects of the section in conjunction with senior managers. The post holder is responsible for ensuring that all staff working in their section are trained and competent and that reagents and consumables are available and the service maintained. You will provide leadership professionally, technically and provide supervision in the section to ensure completion of the day to day work of the department. This is a 24 hour service and as such participation in out of hours rotas is a requirement of the post as necessary. The post holder may rotate through more than one section and will deputise for the operational manager as required.
Key duties are following, and creating where necessary, Policy and Procedures to provide technical and diagnostic expertise, logistics and consumables management, staff teaching , training, competency assessment and supervision, delivering all aspects of clinical governance and quality to maintain the Departments UKAS accreditation to ISO 15189.
The Secretary of State has approved the partnership between St Helens & Knowsley and Southport & Ormskirk Hospitals.
From 1 st July we have come together as a single organisation under the name Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Trust delivers acute hospital care, intermediate care, community, and primary care services to a population of over 600,000 people with a combined workforce of around 9000 dedicated and skilled staff from 17 locations including Whiston, Southport & Formby, St Helens, Ormskirk and Newton hospitals.
The Trust provides regional services for burns, plastic surgery and spinal injuries to more than 4 million people across Mersey and West Lancashire, Cheshire, the Isle of Man and North Wales.

KEY DUTIES

Technical

Undertake manual, semi-automated and fully automated laboratory investigations on a rotational basis play a lead role in the various sections such as the ‘Hot’ section, Immunology, Immunoassay, Automation, etc. within the Blood Science as appropriate.

• Ensure that equipment is used in accordance with departmental policies and supplier’s instructions.
• Undertake routine and more complex maintenance procedures on the analysers within the Department. To carry out appropriate internal maintenance procedures and maintain maintenance records.
• Undertake the repair of complex laboratory analysers and installing replacement components as requested by the supplier.
• Ensure prompt technical validation and authorisation of multiple test sets from laboratory investigations ensuring accuracy and precision as specified by laboratory protocols. Also, to assess the validity of the results as to whether conflicting information is due to the pathology of the patient, contamination or compromised integrity of the sample prior to release of the results for clinical validation.
• Ensure the accuracy and precision of laboratory investigations within the Section using appropriate quality control procedures.
• Carry out corrective action and record when the quality control procedures indicate loss of performance. Reporting to Operational Manager as necessary.
• Prepare reagents required for laboratory investigations.
• Inform the Operational/Service managers of any event which may cause a service delivery failure.
• Ensure the proper use and maintenance of laboratory equipment by all staff, ensuring all staff have an up-to-date recorded training record of their competence to operate the equipment.
• Liaise with company contacts and engineers to organise instrument servicing and repair.
• Responsible for collation and reporting of External Quality Control returns, acting appropriately to out of consensus results.
• Maintain expertise in all testing procedures within the department and carry out more highly complex investigations.
• Authorize highly complex testing using manual techniques and microscopy methods.
• Responsible for ensuring the maintenance of all instrumentation within the section to a high standard and ensure all relevant quality controls are in place.
• As appropriate you will be expected to carry out procedures such as sweat tests and anticoagulant clinics in ward and out-patient areas.

In addition to the above each Section Lead / Senior BMS will have further responsibilities outlined in document: EQMS ID 31737

Diagnostics

• Use interpretive skills to determine the clinical significance of results of laboratory tests, for example, by:
• Preparing, examining and reporting on the analysis of specimens.
• Performing diagnostic tests by various methods including biochemical, immunological, electrophoretic, chromatographic, ELISA techniques and microscopy.
• Interpret diagnostic laboratory results and take appropriate actions i.e.
• Authorisation and reporting of results.
• Adding technical comments.
• Referring results to medical staff and clinical scientists for a second opinion as necessary.
• Informing the requestor/medical staff of clinically significant and critical results.

Policies and Procedures

• Ensure the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are in place and adhered to.
• Participate in the regular review, production and update/amendment of SOPs.
• Ensure the implementation of and compliance with all established Trust and Departmental policies.
• Ensure compliance with all current legislation and DoH guidelines.
• Assist in formulating document departmental policies and procedures.
• Be familiar with the STHK and SOHT Trust policies on Health & Safety and Discipline and Grievance procedures.

Clinical Governance and Quality

Lead on governance/quality issues for the section working with the operational leads and service lead to ensure all aspects of governance are monitored and maintained in required order.

• Undertake method and laboratory instrument evaluation and produce statistical reports.
• Take appropriate action should the quality assurance systems be outside acceptable limits.
• Perform External Quality Control and be aware of the External Quality Control performance for the section.
• Present internal and external quality control performance and recalibration data at monthly departmental meetings.

Communication
Communicate results verbally to persons authorised to receive them in a clear and concise and empathic manner following appropriate policies and procedures.
Provide advice and information to Laboratory, Ward nurses and clinicians, GP staff and patients regarding samples & sample handling including information on appropriate tests and collection conditions for in house, referred & infrequently requested tests.
Deal with result queries imparting information to clinical users where information may be complex and difficult to understand.
Communicate any relevant information to laboratory colleagues within the section and to inform effectively at hand over.
Actively participate in team meetings and as required by more formal means such as presentations.
Communicate Team Brief to Section and other departmental staff.
Represent the Department on Directorate and/or Pathology related Trust groups as directed by the Departmental Manager.
Provide technical advice away from work to staff working out of hours where difficulties arise.
Train and motivate groups of laboratory staff.

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Maintain registration with Health Care Professions Council.
Adhere to the codes of conduct expected by the HCPC and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
Demonstrate competency in order to work autonomously in and out of hours.
Maintain an awareness of developments and provide suggestions for implementation as appropriate.
Keep the workplace and work benches clean and tidy.
Maintain good working relations with all members or staff and to promote effective teamwork.
Maintain and promote the professional image of the Department of Pathology, STHK and SOHT.
Attend educational and training courses as required by the Departmental Manager. To maintain knowledge of advances in relevant scientific areas, through Continuous Professional Development activities.
Maintain and develop skills in all related areas including Transfusion if appropriate to satisfy the requirements of CPD, PDP, and the Knowledge and Skills Framework and ensure working as a single handed BMS in the Department is within your skill set.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

Maintain departmental records and logs in accordance with UK Accreditation Services (UKAS) ISO 15189 Standards and Departmental Policies.
Ensure that records are kept up to date and stored safely to ensure compliance with good work practices required for the standards of UKAS.
Comply with good laboratory practices required for ISO 15189 standards, health and safety, MHRA and other legislation.
Undertake work file management to ensure that reporting of results are carried out in a timely fashion.
Regularly review and update all COSHH data in place in the Department.
Ensure risk assessments are carried out for the work area.
Ensure that the local and national policies for safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other laboratory information.
Use the Pathology Computer System according to the authorised protocols.
Enter own results and those obtained by others into Telepath.
Check and correct, if necessary, information input by other laboratory staff.
Maintain the integrity and accuracy of laboratory databases.
Use Trust wide I.T. systems as appropriate following trust polices, guidelines and procedures.
Assist in the audit of data held on the pathology laboratory information system.
Be aware of actions to be taken in the event of PAS/LIMS failure.

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES

Section Leads have responsibility for the day-to-day supervision, education and training of Biomedical Scientists, trainee BMS and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA)
Section Leads must ensure the delivery of training, development and competence assessment for trainee and probationary Biomedical Scientists, MLA and locum staff.
Assist as required by the Departmental Manager in the organisation of, and delivery of formal training programmes for BMS, Trainee BMS and MLA staff.
Undertake tutorial sessions to all department staff and in order to help complete staff competency portfolios.
Act as mentors for Biomedical Scientists, Trainee Biomedical Scientists and Medical Laboratory Assistants