Assistant Healthcare Scientist in Blood Sciences

NHS; Margate; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization is seeking a full-time Assistant Healthcare Scientist in Margate. The successful candidate will manage specimen reception and data entry while assisting in laboratory operations. Ideal applicants will possess good keyboard skills, basic laboratory experience, and have GCSE-level education. This role requires teamwork and a commitment to providing excellent patient services. Join us to contribute to a team dedicated to high care standards in a dynamic healthcare environment.

Qualifications

• Some laboratory experience is preferred.
• Good understanding of customer care is necessary.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy are essential.

Responsibilities

• Receive and sort specimens.
• Prepare blood samples for testing.
• Monitor laboratory temperatures and maintain equipment.

Skills

Good keyboard skills

Ability to work within a team

Excellent customer service skills

Education

Maths, English and Science GCSE grade C or equivalent

Job description

Go back East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Healthcare Scientist in Blood Sciences

The closing date is 04 January 2026

We are looking for applicants to work as a band 2 Assistant Healthcare Scientist within the Blood Sciences department at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) Pathology Reception. This is a full‑time 37.5 hours per week role based at QEQM in Margate, Kent.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Pathology team at the Trust and to help shape future strategy and services for our local population.

The post holder will possess good keyboard skills, a high level of accuracy, and must be a good team player with a very flexible approach to working. The ideal candidate would have some laboratory experience and an aptitude for science. They should be highly motivated and an enthusiastic individual, educated to at least GCSE level or equivalent.

A keen eye for detail and excellent customer service skills are essential.

Main duties of the job

Duties include specimen reception and sorting, data entry, blood sample preparation for testing and dispatching samples to other hospitals for testing, monitoring of temperature, general maintenance of laboratory equipment, stock control and supporting the Biomedical Scientist teams.

The successful applicant will be required to participate in the '7‑day working' pattern including bank holidays.

We currently hold UKAS Accreditation, an HTA Licence and are an IBMS training laboratory.

About us

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day‑to‑day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

KMPN: Kent and Medway Pathology Network is a formal partnership of seven laboratories across three pathology services in four acute Trusts. Our 1000 colleagues provide services across the health and care sector to a population of nearly 2 million.

We are at an exciting point of our network development with a recommendation to form a joint venture across the four Trusts leading transformation. Our projects including single IT solutions, procurement and digital projects, to ensure our services are able to meet growing demand for our service users, patients and communities.

Job responsibilities

KMPN: You will have a fantastic opportunity to grow your career in KMPN. We are developing a network academy, a platform for all network education and training from apprenticeships to advanced clinical and scientific qualifications with a single faculty making best use of our talented educators and trainers. You will not be expected to work at sites outside of EKHUFT. However, there will be opportunities for collaborative working within the network.

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in 'supporting documents'. If you have further queries please don't hesitate to contact the line manager using the contact details below.

Kindly note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for Biomedical Scientist roles Band 6 and above.

Person Specification

Education

• Maths, English and Science GCSE grade C or equivalent
• Good understanding of customer care

Personal/professional attributes

• Demonstrates ability to provide and receive routine information, which may sometimes be sensitive or complex.
• Provides and receives information which requires tact and persuasive skills and where there are barriers to communication.
• Some knowledge of Biology and / or General Science

Clinical skills and experience

• Good keyboard skills / familiar with using a computer
• Ability to work within a team
• Previous Laboratory experience

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Address

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital