Biomedical Scientist Band 5

Kingston Hospital; Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a HCPC-registered Biomedical Scientist for the Cellular Pathology/Histopathology department. You will contribute to routine histology, immunocytochemistry and rapid intraoperative sections, with IBMS portfolio support and strong IT skills essential.

Working in a busy NHS lab, you will participate in quality controls, audits and training, with opportunities for professional development in a supportive environment, including IBMS registration

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences or equivalent.
• HCPC registration is essential.
• IBMS recognition or UKAS ISO experience/portfolio.
• Experience in diagnostic histopathology laboratory settings.

Responsibilities

• Ensure safe working laboratory practices and accurate data entry in LIMS.
• Adhere to quality procedures to maintain high service quality.
• Work across all sections to deliver timely, high-quality results.
• Participate in education and training for staff.
• Assist in maintaining supplies and audit trails for specimens.
• Perform immunocytochemistry and rapid intraoperative sections when required.
• Prepare non-gynae specimens and quality control preparations.
• Assist in updating departmental SOPs and documentation.

Skills

HCPC registration

IBMS registration/portfolio

Histology lab experience

Teamwork

Education

BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Site Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Town Kingston Salary £36,943 - £44,900 Pro rata, p.a. Inclusive of Outer London HCAS (15%) Salary period Yearly Closing 23/11/2026 23:59

Home, community, hospital

KingstonandRichmond NHS Foundation Trust offers a range offantasticopportunities to grow your career across both hospital and community settings in south London. Whether you're looking to build new skills or take your experience to the next level,w youare uniquely placed toprovide therightenvironment to support your professional development.With colleagues working in people’s homes, in community clinics, and in our two hospitals, we have an outstanding breadth of knowledge and experience to draw from.

Our commitment to exceptional care is reflected in being the firsttrustof our kindin London to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the CQC for bothoverallquality andleadership.We exist to provide the best possible care for our patients and we do that by giving our colleagues what they need to be their best at work. We have won numerous awards from the HSJ and Nursing Times for the way we support our colleagues across all our services.

We are proud to be recognised for our outstanding cancer care, children's services, pioneering surgical teams, and exceptional rehabilitation services. The maternity services have been rated the \"Best in London\" by women surveyed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with parents travelling to Kingston to take advantage of our considerable experience and expertise.

These words are important reminders, but it’s our behaviours that tell people who we are. We expect all colleagues to bring our values to life in their work.

• Compassionate: We provide care with kindness, understanding, and empathy for all.
• Inclusive: We embrace diversity and respect the unique contributions of every individual.
• Collaborative: We foster teamwork across all levels, working together and with our partners to deliver the best outcomes.
• Inspiring: We are committed to continuous improvement and excellence in patient care, staff development, and innovation.

Job overview

We are looking for a HCPC Registered Biomedical Scientist preferably with a history of working in a Histopathology laboratory to enhance our team within the Cellular Pathology department at Kingston Hospital NHS foundation trust.

Some previous experience of working in a busy routine NHS Histopathology Laboratory is desirable and membership of the IBMS is an advantage. As a Biomedical Scientist you will be expected to be involved with all aspects of the routine histology service, a broad range of immunocytochemistry tests and special stains. Experience in processing non Gynae cytology samples would be desirable. You will also be involved with essential quality checks of the slides being issued to the histopathology consultants. The successful applicant will be expected to have successfully completed the IBMS Registration Portfolio but consideration will be made to those who are currently undertaking the portfolio.

Experience of Microsoft Office, Word, Excel and confidence with IT programs is essential.

Main duties of the job

Ensure safe working laboratory practices in the department in compliance with the Trust and department policies and procedures., including safe checks of samples received, accurate entry of information to the laboratory information and management system (LIMS).

Adhere to good quality procedures and practices to ensure continuing provision of a high quality service.

Operate with the quality management and clinical governance processes currently in place in the department.

Participate and be competent in all sections of the laboratory to produce a timely and high quality service to users.

Participate in education and training for other members of staff.

Undertake other duties that may be required appropriate to training and responsibilities of the grade.

Assist in maintenance of supplies within the department.

Ensure audit trails for each specimen are completed.

Perform immunocytochemistry techniques as detailed in SOPs.

Using specialist knowledge, process urgent surgical frozen sections, including sectioning and staining for rapid diagnosis.

Prepare non-gynae specimens and quality control preparations prior to distributing to consultants.

Assist in the preparation and updating of departmental documentation such as Standard Operating Procedures.

Continued on attached JD...

Working for our organisation

Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust cares for more than half a million patients a year, from across Kingston, Richmond, Elmbridge (Surrey), Merton, Wandsworth and Sutton. In 2018, we became the first acute hospital trust in London to be rated “Outstanding” for overall quality and leadership by the national Care Quality Commission regulator.

We have approximately 350 beds and directly employ around 2,900 staff. Our trust provides a full range of diagnostic services and treatment services. Our main site is the Kingston Hospital site but we also run a number of outpatient clinics in the community, including in Raynes Park, Surbiton, Queen Mary's Roehampton and Teddington.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached supporting document/s (JD) which contains more information about the role in the job description and person specification.

Ensure any supporting statements align with the job description and person specification, as your application will be assessed against these criteria.

Person specification

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences or equivalent.
• Registration with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Trained in a recognised diagnostic pathology laboratory (IBMS registered or UKAS ISO accredited)
• Licentiate of the Institute of Biomedical sciences

Skills

• Basic Science Skills From School and University
• Able to perform range of analytical procedures including microtomy, embedding and special stains
• Good verbal and non-verbal communication: able to effectively communicate scientific/technical information and results to other health professionals
• Able to work flexibly as the situation requires
• Able to integrate within a team (team player) but can also work unsupervised
• Acting on abnormal results or unexpected findings
• Problem solving and troubleshooting

Experience

• Quality assessment knowledge and experience
• Knowledge and experience of validation of tests

Other

• Knowledge of Health and Safety and Good Laboratory Practice
• Demonstrates initiative and ability to work under pressure
• Awareness of other departments

We support the NHS Flex for the Future pledge

We welcome conversations about flexible working from day one, including options such as adjusted hours, compressed hours and other arrangements. If flexibility matters to you, please talk to us – we’ll be happy to explore what’s possible for the role and the service.

Your recruitment team

Your recruitment team
The NHS South West London Recruitment Hub is your dedicated recruitment team, here to support you at every stage of the process. If you have a query, please contact us:
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Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

This vacancy may have an application cap, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment. Ensure your supporting statement clearly shows how you meet the job specifications.