Senior Biomedical Scientist

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Knowsley; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking a Senior Biomedical Scientist to oversee daily operations in the Cellular Pathology department and lead a team of staff. The role includes supervision of workload, staff training, and continuous improvement to deliver high-quality patient care.

The post-holder will ensure compliance with HCPC, IBMS codes of practice and ISO 15189, and will participate in audits, quality control and development of the service within the Trust.

Qualifications

• MSc Biomedical Sciences or equivalent.
• Fellowship of Institute of Biomedical Sciences or equivalent.
• Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC).
• Management qualification within the NHS.

Responsibilities

• Maintain registration and adhere to HCPC and IBMS codes of practice.
• Lead and supervise the Cellular Pathology team and manage workload.
• Coordinate staff training and competence assessments.
• Ensure ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) compliance and drive quality improvements.
• Coordinate and implement audits and QA/quality control.

Skills

Leadership

Time management

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Presentations

Education

MSc Biomedical Sciences

Fellowship IBMS

HCPC registered

NHS Management Qualification

Job description

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Senior Biomedical Scientist

The closing date is 06 November 2026

The post holder will play an active role in the ensuring the smooth running of the Cellular Pathology department on a daily basis. Working in a supervisory capacity they will provide direction as appropriate to assist in the in the management of the workload and the Cellular Pathology team. They will participate in staff training and competence assessment in all areas of the department and foster a culture of continuous improvement enabling the highest standard of patient care. They will maintain good working relationships amongst all staff, promoting effective team work and the professional image of the Department of Pathology within the Trust.

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

Main duties of the job

KEY DUTIES

• Maintain and foster the highest possible standards of technical work in the department maintaining ensuring compliance with ISO 15189:2012 (UKAS), HSE and HTA standards
• Act as lead in the relevant EQA schemes, undertaking internal quality control on a daily basis and acting upon any defects identified during the process
• Participate and coordinate routine processing, embedding, section cutting and staining.
• Coordinate the rotas for all areas of the department
• Coordinate and play an active role in the delivery of the department scheduled audit program, ensuring any non conformances found as part of the process are actioned
• Ensure that equipment is used is accordance with departmental policies and suppliers instructions and maintained correctly. Report any defects of equipment found during use to the assistant departmental manager
• Maintain adequate stocks of reagents and consumables within the department
• Identify and implement improvements and development of the service, evaluating new equipment and introducing new techniques where applicable

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Job responsibilities

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Maintain registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Adhere to relevant Codes of Practice of the HCPC and the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

Ensure all records are kept up to date and stored safely for compliance with the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS)

Comply with good laboratory practice required for the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) and the Health and safety executive guidelines (HSE)

Comply with the local and national policies for safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other laboratory information

Follow trust policies, guidelines and procedures when using the Trust wide IT system

Participate in audit of data held on the laboratory IT system

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES

Responsible for the supervision, training and continued competence assessment of Biomedical Scientists (BMS), Trainee BMSs and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA)

Ensure the delivery of training, development and competence assessments of all staff.

Assist, as required by the Departmental Manager, in the organisation of, and participation in, formal training programmes for staff members.

Coordinate and Undertake tutorial sessions to assist trainee BMSs with the completion of the Registration portfolio and state registered BMS staff with the specialist portfolio.

Participate in formal and informal CPD activities and attend educational and training courses as appropriate, maintaining knowledge of advances in relevant scientific areas, through continuing professional development.

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications

• MSc Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
• Fellowship of Institute of Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
• Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council
• Management Qualification within the NHS

Experience

• Minimum 2 years post registration
• Knowledge of continuous Improvement processes
• Proven ability to manage and perform audit
• Working knowledge of laboratory computer systems and standard IT packages
• High level knowledge of pathology instrumentation
• Knowledge of Health & safety requirements including COSHH regulations and assessment
• Experience of managing quality systems including document control, ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) accreditation and Keele Benchmarking
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development

Skills

• Demonstrates ability to work under pressure and give direction to others as appropriate to ensure effective management of the departmental daily workload.
• Demonstrates the ability to organise own workload and that of departmental staff
• Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrates good time management skills
• Experience of presentations

Other

• Prior experience in the implementation of new technologies
• Ability to manage a team as part of that team
• Evidence of good personal development and a commitment to general staff education and training

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

£49,387 to £56,515 a yearPer annum pro rata