Medical Equipment Library Assistant

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust; Northampton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider is seeking a part-time Medical Equipment Library Assistant in Northampton. The role involves managing the Medical Equipment Library, ensuring devices are supplied, controlled, and monitored efficiently. Candidates should possess excellent communication skills and the ability to work independently within a team. Experience in healthcare is beneficial but not mandatory. This position is 30 hours a week, from 08:00 to 14:00, Monday to Friday, with full training provided.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills to interact with clinical staff and patients.
• Ability to maintain accurate stock levels and manage inventory.
• Experience working in healthcare is beneficial but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Organize the Medical Equipment Library and ensure effective service.
• Maintain inventory and stock levels of medical devices.
• Assist clinical staff in using library medical devices.
• Decontaminate and ensure devices are ready for clinical use.
• Communicate with staff regarding device requests and concerns.

Skills

Communication skills

Stock control management

Ability to organize workload

Problem-solving skills

Job description

Overview

The role of Medical Equipment Library Assistant is to supply, control and monitor medical devices from the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) to all clinical areas as required within Northampton General Hospital Trust. The post holder is required to plan and organise their own workload and conduct the work without routine supervision.

Responsibilities

• Day to day organisation of the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) to ensure a safe and effective standard of MEL service is provided.
• Control and maintain stock levels within the MEL.
• Provide assistance and guidance to clinical staff in the use of library medical devices.
• Recognise faulty/damaged medical devices and taking remedial action.
• Decontamination of all MEL devices after use.
• Use of various computer applications to track MEL devices and order spare parts.
• Report to the Medical Equipment Library (MEL) Team Leader daily.
• Deliver and collect MEL devices to and from wards and departments as required, ensuring all accessories are complete.
• Comply with deadlines for the provision of urgent equipment.
• Communicate with ward staff daily and act on any queries or concerns they may have in relation to the medical devices they have borrowed from the MEL.
• Ensure that all devices leaving the MEL are in full working order.
• Ensure that all devices in the MEL have an asset number and current service verification date.
• Maintain an electronic inventory of all MEL devices and accessories.
• Maintain an electronic record of all loans using accurate and timely data input.
• Respond to requests for MEL devices under all conditions of urgency and keep a record of all requests.
• Prioritise customer requests in a safe and effective manner.
• Clean and decontaminate all returned library devices, using appropriate personal protective equipment, to prevent cross-contamination in clinical use.
• Inspect and perform functional checks of returned equipment to ensure it is in good working order ready for clinical use.
• Responsible for accessory stock control and ensure that the correct accessories always accompany the device.
• Communicate with ward/department managers regarding recharging lost accessories from borrowed equipment.
• Recharge battery powered devices in the MEL and replace batteries of library equipment as necessary.
• Recognise faulty/damaged accessories and provide replacements.
• Undertake first line fault-finding and basic equipment repairs as necessary.
• Recognise faulty/damaged devices and liaise with the appropriate team to rectify faults as necessary.
• Maintain an accurate log of patients who leave NGH with loan Medical Equipment Library devices and arrange for return of this equipment when no longer required.
• Plan maintenance, servicing, and upgrades of equipment in the library.
• Plan, prioritise and organise a range of activities relevant to own remit.
• Contribute to the development of the Medical Equipment Library service by proposing changes to working practices or procedures.
• Implement practice and procedure standards and policies for Medical Equipment Library service.
• Accurately use all manual and computerised information systems relating to Medical Equipment Library devices.
• Responsible for scheduling and prioritising own work within area of practice.
• Ensure own continual development and education to maintain knowledge and understanding of current regulations, policies and techniques relevant to the maintenance and management of medical devices.
• Attend internal and external training courses as required.
• Assist in training of new team members and the continued development of the clinical engineering team, providing advice on the procedures and routines employed.
• Provide advice on the technical operation and user maintenance of medical equipment covered by the role to clinical staff.

Communication

• Regular communication with staff who request and return devices and with whom a good working relationship is essential.
• Communicate with porters who cover the out of hours MEL service.
• Communicate with suppliers and all external bodies as necessary.
• Communicate with patients who have loan equipment outside the hospital.

About Northampton General Hospital and Values

At Northampton General Hospital we provide general acute services and hyper-acute stroke, vascular and renal services to people living in Northamptonshire. As well as this we are an accredited cancer centre and provide cancer services to a wider population of Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire.

We are proud to be the first hospital in the UK to have obtained Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC).

We celebrate staff achievements and value the importance of working as one big team. That’s why we talk about Team NGH. It’s all about working together to provide the best possible care for our patients and supporting each other to grow and develop our skills. We are driven to helping you to be the best you can be.

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities. The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative. We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

Role Details

This is a part-time position at 30 hours a week, 08:00 - 14:00, Monday to Friday. Previous experience is not essential as full training will be provided, but experience of working in healthcare would be beneficial. You must have excellent communication skills and the ability to work on your own initiative as well as part of a team.