Biomedical Science Assistant – Higher Level (Poct)

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Nhs Foundation Trust; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals, part of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Pathology Partnership, invite applications for a fixed-term Band 3 Biomedical Science Assistant - Higher Level (HBSA) in the POCT team. The role runs 37.5 hours per week with potential flexibility across sites until 31 March 2027.

You will support flu point-of-care testing, ensuring quality and governance, training staff, and managing POCT devices and consumables under the supervision of POCT

Qualifications

• GCSE Maths and English at grade C/4 or above.
• Level 3 qualification or equivalent with significant laboratory experience.

Responsibilities

• Support POCT devices and operations within the flu-season clinical area.
• Ensure quality governance and staff training on POCT devices.
• Manage information and consumables for POCT devices under supervision.

Skills

Keyboard and basic IT skills

Effective communication skills

Health & Safety awareness

Ability to plan and prioritise

Education

GCSE Maths and English at grade C/4 or above

Level 3 qualification e.g. NVQ, 2 A-Levels, Apprenticeship or IBMS Certificate of Achievement (Part I)

Job description

Job summary

Please note, this role will predominantly involve working 37.5 core hours 09:00 - 17:30. However, there may be a requirement to spread these hours between 08:00 - 20:00, Monday to Sunday and across the NGH and RHH sites. Are you looking for an exciting new challenge in a place to take your career to the next level? Would you like to join a friendly, progressive, innovative team and play a part in the transformation of pathology services across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw? Do you want to work in a fully UKAS-accredited, modern laboratory environment where you can make a difference? An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Laboratory Medicine - Point of Care Testing (POCT) department at The Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals, part of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Pathology Partnership, for a fixed-term Band 3 Biomedical Science Assistant - Higher Level (HBSA) for 6 months. Please note: the contract end date for this post is 31 March 2027. If the successful candidate is in post after 01 October 2026, the contract will run until the specified end date and will be less than 6 months. Please note, this role will predominantly involve working 37.5 core hours 09:00 - 17:30. However, there may be a requirement to spread these hours between 08:00 - 20:00, Monday to Sunday.

Main duties of the job

As an integral part of the POCT team, you will have a key role in supporting the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH) clinical areas with the operational requirements of running flu point of care testing devices during "flu-season". This work has a positive direct impact on patient care and management and ensures the high-quality standards from laboratory specimen testing is transferred and upheld at the point of patient care. The duties of this role also include ensuring quality and clinical governance is upheld with the use of POCT devices, staff training on the use of POCT devices, information management and consumables management of POCT devices all under the supervision of the POCT Coordinators.

About us

You will be working for an organisation which values and respects all its staff and the community it serves. The Trust is a leader in the NHS and research sectors and provides excellent benefits for its staff. This includes commitments to professional development but also many policies to support employees in balancing their personal and professional lives. STH operates with a budget of £1.2 bn, has a workforce of over 18,500 employees, covers five hospital sites, provides care from over forty community settings, and has an excellent reputation for research. As an organisation we value and respect our staff and the community we serve. We provide excellent staff benefits; this includes commitment to professional development but also many initiatives to support employees in balancing their personal and professional lives. The South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Pathology Partnership are invested in training, developing, and supporting staff in all aspects including academic courses from certificates of achievement, registration, specialist and higher specialist IBMS portfolios, apprenticeships and leadership and management qualifications. We pride ourselves in enabling opportunity across all our sites to develop staff and provide a strong and sustained service for the future.

Job responsibilities

Please view the attached Job Description and Person Specification documents for full details regarding this post. When completing your application please ensure that you clearly demonstrate how you meet the role criteria. This vacancy is advertised on a fixed term contract basis for a period until 31st March 2027 due to the post being recruited as part of a limited term project within the Trust. The fixed term contract status of the post holder will be reviewed in accordance with the Trust's legal obligations regarding fixed term contracts taking into consideration the requirement for the post to be maintained as a part of the projects implementation and the timescales associated with this. Please also note any secondment must first be agreed with your current line manager.

Qualifications

• GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths and English at level C/4 or above
• Level 3 qualification e.g. NVQ, 2 A-Levels, Apprenticeship or IBMS Certificate of Achievement (Part I) plus Significant laboratory experience or Extensive laboratory experience in the relevant discipline

Experience

• Ability to follow and work to Standard Operating Procedures and Policy
• Experience with a range of laboratory techniques
• Previous NHS laboratory experience

Skills & Knowledge

• Keyboard and basic IT skills
• Effective Communication skills, written and oral
• Have an awareness of Health & Safety issues

Personal Qualities

• Ability to plan and prioritise allocated work

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).