Cellular Pathology Outsourcing Administrator

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Portsmouth is seeking a specialist administrator for the Histopathology Department. The successful candidate will provide high-quality administrative support for pathology referrals and ensure efficient data management. Key skills include experience in an administrative role, familiarity with medical terminology, and proficiency in MS Office. This full-time position offers a salary range of £24,937 - £26,598 and opportunities for personal growth in a compassionate working environment.

Benefits

On-site Nursery

Access to Wellness Centre

Staff recognition awards

Access to free Beach Hut

Qualifications

• Previous experience in an administrative role.
• Experience in a hospital or pathology setting.
• Understanding of medical terminology.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to clinical teams.
• Manage external laboratory cases and communications.
• Track molecular test results and support data entry.

Skills

Effective communication

Diligence

Ability to prioritize workload

Experience with hospital systems

Education

GCSEs including English and Maths

NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent

Tools

MS Office

WinPath

ICE

Apex

Job description

Company Description

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

Job Description

Band 3: £24,937 - £26,598

Full time hours: 37.5 per week

Permanent contract

The Histopathology Department at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is a key diagnostic service supporting Cancer Services and multiple specialties. We process around 42,000 cases and generate over 350,000 slides annually.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised specialist administrator to join our busy and friendly Cellular Pathology office.

The post holder will be responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of administrative duties supporting outsourced pathology referrals and molecular diagnostics. This includes tracking case progression, liaising with external laboratories, maintaining databases, transcription of medical data, and supporting multidisciplinary team (MDT) workflows. The role will also involve routine administrative tasks including email management, telephone handling, and medical secretarial cover when required.

Key Responsibilities

General Administration

• Provide high-quality administrative support to clinical and pathology teams.
• Monitor and manage three departmental group email inboxes.
• Respond to telephone calls in a timely, professional, and courteous manner.
• Provide cross-cover for medical secretaries, including audio typing and transcription when required.
• Accurately type and distribute minutes for meetings as and when required.
• Represent the department at internal and external meetings relevant to outsourced referrals or molecular coordination.
• Liaise with other departments and Trusts to support timely patient care.

Outsourced Pathology Administration

• Manage the end-to-end process for cases referred to external (outsourced) laboratories.
• Transcribe medical reports received from external reporting portals.
• Update tracking spreadsheets/databases to monitor outsourced cases and returns.
• Prepare, package, and dispatch pathology specimens in accordance with Trust and laboratory guidelines.
• Process admin steps for returned outsource reports, including filing slides and blocks.
• Support the departmental manager with checking and processing invoices for outsourced cases.

Molecular Administration

• Transcribe and log molecular test results received from external hospitals.
• Ensure accurate data entry and communication of results to relevant clinical teams.
• Track the status of molecular referrals and elevate delays as required.
• Maintain orderly filing and documentation of molecular testing outcomes, liaising with the lead molecular scientist supporting all administrative processes as required.

Emotional Effort

• Occasional exposure to distressing clinical information.

Please note this role does not offer sponsorship

Qualifications

or additional information, please see attached Job description

Essential

• GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and Maths.
• NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent.

Experience

• Previous experience in an administrative role.
• Experience using MS Office and email systems.
• Experience in a hospital, pathology, or laboratory setting.
• Medical terminology understanding.

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent diligence.
• Effective communication and people skills.
• Ability to priorities workload.
• Confident in managing email inboxes and databases.
• Experience with hospital systems (e.g., WinPath, ICE, and Apex)

Knowledge

• Understanding of confidentiality and GDPR.
• Familiar with administrative procedures.
• Awareness of cancer pathways and diagnostics processes.

Additional Information

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and DisAbility, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.