Microbiology Specialist Biomedical Scientist

St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

St. Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is inviting applications from HCPC Registered Biomedical Scientists with significant post-registration Microbiology experience. The post is based at Whiston Hospital in a busy, UKAS accredited laboratory and requires participation in the out-of-hours rota.

Specialist BMSs may work autonomously to provide a 24-hour pathology service, with responsibilities across blood, body fluids, tissues and cells to support patient care and diagnosis.

Qualifications

• HCPC registered Biomedical Scientist with post-registration experience in Microbiology.
• Experience delivering a 24-hour pathology service.
• Experience in a UKAS accredited laboratory environment.

Responsibilities

• Perform analyses on blood, body fluids, tissues and cells to aid diagnosis and monitoring.
• Work autonomously to deliver a clinical pathology service.
• Take part in an out of hours service as required by the Trust.
• Maintain quality control and comply with SOPs and safety policies.

Skills

Attention to detail

Communication

Education

HCPC registration as Biomedical Scientist

Tools

Laboratory instruments

Quality systems

Job description

Job overview

Applications are invited from HCPC Registered Biomedical Scientists with significant post registration experience in Microbiology as a BMS for the above post.

For this post we require an enthusiastic and motivated individual to work in our busy, well-equipped, UKAS accredited laboratory.

The post is based at Whiston Hospital and there is a requirement for full participation in the out of hours system.

The Department processes over 700,000 requests each year in a modern well equipped department.

Whiston Hospital is well situated close to the M62 and M57 motorways with good access to both Liverpool and Manchester.

Interview Date - To Be Confirmed

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change

Main duties of the job

Specialist Biomedical Scientists will act as experienced specialists who generally work without guidance or supervision to complete delegated tasks involved in the delivery of a clinical pathology service that enables a high standard of patient care. Those who satisfy competency assessments may work as an autonomous practitioner to provide a 24-hour pathology service for the Trust. The successful applicant will be expected to take a full part in any out of hours service agreed by the Trust.

Specialist BMSs carry out analyses on blood, body fluids, tissues and cells to determine the presence or absence of disease; this enables diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of the effectiveness of treatment. Biomedical Scientists also carry out population screening for inherited or malignant disorders.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is the only acute Trust in Cheshire and Merseyside, and one of the few in the entire country, to achieve the title of OUTSTANDING, rated by the Care Quality Commission.

We provide a full range of acute adult and children services to our local population of circa 360,000 and provide tertiary services across a much wider area in the North West, North Wales and Isle of Man. We are a Major Trauma Unit and the Mersey Regional Burns Unit.

Our '5 Star Patient Care' strategy is at the heart of all that we do; supporting our vision to provide world class services for all our patients by getting it right for every patient, every time.

Our latest achievements include:

• Acute Trust of the Year - HSJ Awards November 2019
• Trust rates Outstanding by the CQC - Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers and Health Service Journal)
• Best acute Trust in England for quality of care for the 3rd year running (NHS Staff Survey)

In the NHS Staff Survey 2020 the Trust scored the highest marks in the following areas;

• Quality of care
• Staff engagement
• Support from managers

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KEY DUTIES

The following duties will be performed after supervised training with a registered Biomedical Scientist. All duties must be performed and comply with agreed departmental policies and procedures

Technical

• Undertake manual, semi-automated and fully automated laboratory investigations on a rotational basis through all sections within the department as required.
• Follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and participate in the regular review and update of SOPs.
• Ensure that equipment is used in accordance with Departmental policies and suppliers instructions.
• Undertake routine and more complex maintenance on laboratory instruments, carry out appropriate internal maintenance procedures and maintain maintenance records.
• Plan and organise a workload which can be varied and complex. This involves completion of on-going work, together with new work, which can be interspersed with urgent specimens. These activities are required to meet the demands of the department
• Undertake technical validation of the complex results from laboratory investigations ensuring accuracy and precision as specified by laboratory protocols.
• Measure and monitor the accuracy and precision of laboratory investigations using appropriate quality control procedures.
• Carry out corrective action or inform senior staff when the quality control procedures indicate loss of performance.
• Prepare reagents required for analysers and manual laboratory investigations and to record reagent batch numbers and maintain a reagent audit trail.
• Report any instance or event which may cause a service delivery failure to the Senior Biomedical Scientists
• Record and monitor data from non-analytical equipment e.g. water purity from water systems, decontamination records for centrifuges, fridge and freezer temperatures etc.

Scientific

• Undertake method and laboratory instrument evaluation as directed by senior laboratory staff.
• Take appropriate action should the quality assurance systems be outside acceptable limits.
• Perform External Quality Control and be aware of the external QC performance for the section.
• Carry out the agreed internal quality control procedures associated with any specific procedure.
• Perform internal quality control checks, as directed by a senior member of staff, on work performed elsewhere within the laboratory.

Diagnostic

Use interpretative skills to determine accurately the clinical significance of results of laboratory tests, for example, by:

• Preparing, examining and reporting of specimens which require highly developed physical skills requiring a high degree of hand/eye co-ordination.
• Performing molecular diagnostic tests
• Microscopy: reporting Gram films (presence of bacteria and cells), Cerebro Spinal Fluid and Urines (presence of infection indicators), Faeces (presence of parasites)
• Interpret diagnostic laboratory results and take appropriate actions i.e.
• Authorisation of results
• Adding technical comments
• Making decisions for further testing
• Referring results for a second opinion
• Informing the requestor/medical staff of clinically significant results so appropriate action may be taken.

Communication

• Communicate results verbally to persons authorised to receive them in a clear and concise manner following appropriate policies and procedures.
• Provide advice and information to laboratory, ward, GP staff and patients regarding samples and sample handling including information on appropriate tests and collection conditions for in-house, referred and infrequently requested tests.
• Deal with result queries where information may be conflicting and difficult to understand.
• Book patients for Infertility investigations, requiring tact and sensitivity.
• Communicate any relevant information to laboratory colleagues within the section and inform effectively at hand over.
• Actively participate in departmental meetings, team briefings, educational and audit meetings as appropriate.
• Bring to the attention of Microbiology Consultant staff any result or finding that, either according to relevant SOPs or according to the experience and judgment of the BMS, may require urgent clinical intervention.
• Bring to the attention of Infection Control staff any results or findings that may require their specialist input, according to relevant SOPs or according to the experience and judgment of the BMS.

Other Duties

• Maintain appropriate stock levels within the section following appropriate policies and procedures under the direction of the section leader.
• Ensure that equipment is used in accordance with departmental policies and supplier's instructions and is maintained correctly. Notify equipment/general building fitting failures to the appropriate senior member of staff.
• Take appropriate action if there is a spillage of body fluids or hazardous chemicals in order to minimise the risk to staff and public.
• All staff have a responsibility to report any risks, clinical and non-clinical accidents and incidents/potential incidents promptly and to co-operate with any investigations undertaken.
• Understand and be aware of and act in accordance with all appropriate National and Trust Health & Safety policies, COSHH regulations and should be aware of the trained first aiders within the department.
• Observe the immunisation policy of the Laboratory/Trust.

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain Registration with Health Care Professions Council. (HCPC).
• Adhere to the codes of conduct expected by the HCPC and the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
• Demonstrate competency in order to work autonomously on a 24/7 pattern and maintain expertise necessary to carry out specialised procedures during rotation through the laboratory.
• Keep the workplace and work benches clean and tidy.
• Maintain good working relations with all members or staff and to promote effective teamwork.
• Maintain and promote the professional image of the Pathology, STHK and SOHT.
• Maintain an up to date and current continuing professional development (CPD) portfolio and to maintain knowledge of professional and scientific advances and developments providing suggestions for implementation as appropriate.
• Attend educational and training courses either for personal development or as required by the department.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Comply with the local and national policies for safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other laboratory information.
• Use the Pathology Computer Systems according to the authorised protocols.
• Enter own results and those obtained by others into the Pathology Computer System.
• Check and correct if necessary, information input by other laboratory staff.
• Maintain the integrity and accuracy of laboratory databases.
• Use Trust wide IT systems as appropriate following trust policies, guidelines and procedures.
• Assist in the audit of data held on the pathology laboratory information system.
• Ensure that records are kept up to date and stored safely to ensure compliance with good work practices required for the standards of UKAS ISO:15189
• Comply with good laboratory practices required for the standards of UKAS ISO:15189 including Health and Safety.
• Undertake work file management to ensure that reporting of results are carried out in a timely fashion.

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES

• Assist the Senior Biomedical Scientists with training, development and competence assessment of trainee Biomedical