Associate Practitioner

NHS; North Shields; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in North Shields seeks an Associate Practitioner to support the Microbiology team. The role involves preparing clinical specimens for testing, training staff, and liaising with other departments. Candidates should hold a Foundation Degree or equivalent, and experience in a biomedical lab is desirable. The position offers comprehensive training in a supportive environment, focusing on high-quality patient care and collaboration.

Qualifications

• Foundation Degree Certificate or equivalent qualification required.
• IBMS approved BSc Biomedical Sciences Degree is desirable.
• Experience working in a Biomedical or NHS Laboratory is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and process clinical specimens for microbiological testing.
• Provide training and support to less experienced staff.
• Liaise with staff and GPs as needed.

Skills

Knowledge of medical terminology

Team collaboration

Organizational skills

Education

Foundation Degree Certificate or equivalent

IBMS approved BSc Biomedical Sciences Degree

Tools

WASP

Vitek II XL

GeneXpert

Job description

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Associate Practitioner

The closing date is 18 January 2026

Applications are invited from enthusiastic, confident, motivated and hardworking individuals to work as an Associate Practitioner within our Northumbria Microbiology team. The post holder will work primarily at North Tyneside General Hospital laboratory, but will be required to rotate to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital laboratory, as part of the departments' shift system. Applicants will hold a Foundation Degree or the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) Certificate of Achievement or equivalent.

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.

Please note, for Secondment roles before an application is submitted, please ensure you have received the appropriate approval and completed documentation required beforehand, as this may delay the process if an offer was to be made.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as an Associate Practitioner in Microbiology, and rotate through all sections of the laboratory. They will support the Biomedical Scientists to ensure that high quality patient results are produced in an efficient and cost-effective way in all sections in which they are working.

The post holder will also have a flexible approach to working, demonstrate good organisational skills and the ability to work under supervision as well as mentoring support staff. Previous experience working in a NHS Microbiology laboratory is desirable but not essential as full training will be provided.

The successful candidate will work during their initial period of training Monday to Friday between the hours of 07:30 and 22:00 including weekends and bank holiday shifts depending upon the needs of the service. Once fully trained and competency assessed, they will participate in a shift system, also rotating to our other laboratory at NSECH.

About us

We provide Microbiology and Infection Control services to three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to our state‑of‑the‑art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres. We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us. We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England.

Job responsibilities

The Post holder will:

• Preparing and processing clinical specimens for microbiological testing.
• Dealing with telephone enquiries from other departments, GPs, visitors to the departments.
• Liaising with staff from other departments, GPs and visitors to the department.
• Provide training, support and mentoring to less experienced AP staff and Clinical Support Workers.

The laboratory has a number of automated and diagnostic systems, which includes, WASP, Vitek II XL, Vitek MS Prime , BacTec, Panther, GeneXpert, BioFire TORCH, Seegene, VIDAS3, Cobas and Liaison.

The post will assist the Biomedical Scientists to ensure that high quality patient results are produced in an efficient and cost-effective way in all sections in which they are working.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Foundation Degree Certificate or equivalent academic qualification e.g. HNC/HND, or Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) Certificate of Achievement (equivalent vocational level qualification NVQ 4/5)
• An IBMS approved BSc Biomedical Sciences Degree

Experience and knowledge

• Experience of working within a Biomedical or NHS Laboratory
• Knowledge and understanding of the role of Microbiology in diagnosis and treatment of disease.
• Knowledge of medical terminology

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.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust