Senior Medical Laboratory Assistant

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust; Bath; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in Bath is looking for a full-time Senior Medical Laboratory Assistant. Responsibilities include preparing blood samples, managing equipment, and ensuring data accuracy for analysis. This role involves working shifts, including weekends and bank holidays, within a supportive and inclusive team environment. Ideal candidates will possess relevant qualifications and experience in a laboratory setting, with a strong focus on patient care and detail-oriented work.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Career development opportunities

Wellbeing support programmes

Qualifications

• Previous NHS laboratory experience of at least 6 months full-time.
• 12 months non-NHS laboratory experience is desirable.
• Experience of supervising other staff is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Receive, unpack, label, sort and centrifuge blood tube samples.
• Check, clean and maintain laboratory equipment.
• Communicate with Biomedical Scientist staff for Blood Sciences support.

Skills

Data entry

IT skills

Ability to work under pressure

Education

Grade C/4 GCSE Maths and English or equivalent

A Level/NVQ Level 3 in Science subject

Job description

Job Overview

Do you have an eye for detail? Can you work to deadlines? Do you enjoy following instructions and patterns? Do you want to help patients get the right treatment as quickly as possible?

We are looking for a full‑time Senior Medical Laboratory Assistant to support enhanced access to NHS healthcare. The role works over a 7‑day shift pattern within the hours of 08:00 – 22:00, including weekends and bank holidays on a rota.

Quick and accurate test results from the laboratory play a vital role in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, not just here at RUH but also for medical centres and GP surgeries in the local area. The MLA’s play an important practical role in this service.

As an MLA your day will be made up of:

• Receiving, unpacking, labelling, sorting and centrifuging blood tube samples ready for analysis.
• Checking, cleaning and maintaining equipment, such as a Benson viscometer and Cepheid rapid PCR.
• Communicating with Biomedical Scientist staff and supporting the Blood Sciences service.
• Entering data onto laboratory systems – both paper and digital.
• Participating in the Covid testing process running analytical methods on multiple platforms.

Main duties of the job

• All pre‑analytical sample preparation (including unpacking, sorting, booking‑in, preparation of aliquots, storage of samples and making decisions on sample quality and labelling).
• Decision‑making on ambiguous requests, as defined by standard operating procedures.
• Entry of Patient Identification Data (PID) and test details into the laboratory computer system; a high degree of concentration is required as errors may not be corrected before results are released.
• Resolving PID problems (e.g., mislabelling, mis‑laid specimens and incorrectly requested specimens).
• Participation in distribution and receipt of store goods and stock control.
• Sending samples via post, following the Postal regulation policy.
• Filing of samples, blocks and request forms using either manual or electronic systems.
• Cleaning and disinfecting the work area including associated equipment.
• Dealing with telephone enquiries in a polite, sensitive and professional manner.
• Telephoning results to GP surgeries.

Working for our organisation

At RUH we’re proud to put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution to the exceptional, person‑centred care we pride ourselves on.

We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment, supported by staff networks that celebrate successes and create opportunities to listen and learn. We value differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.

A culture of learning, developing and innovating runs throughout our organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.

We value staff wellbeing, with a well‑established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life – physical, emotional, spiritual and financial – and even offer a pool!

We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working in the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive benefits package, and read how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Please see the Job Description and Person Specification attached for further information on the role.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Grade C/4 GCSE Maths and English or equivalent A Level/NVQ Level 3 or IBMS Support Staff Certificate of Achievement part 1 or equivalent level in Science subject.

Desirable qualifications

• 5 GCSE Grade C/5 or 2 A Levels/NVQ Level 3 or equivalent one in Human Biology or related to the medical laboratory field.
• 12 months non‑NHS laboratory experience.

Experience

• Previous NHS laboratory experience of at least 6 months full‑time or equivalent with a broad knowledge of sample requirements and pre‑analytical processes.

Desirable experience

• 12 months non‑NHS laboratory experience; experience working with scientific instruments and analysers both manual and automated.

Supervision

• Experience of supervising other staff.

Specific skills

• Data entry/IT skills.
• Able to work quickly and accurately under pressure.

Applicant requirements

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; a submission for disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service will be required to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if we receive a high number of applications. We strongly encourage you to complete and submit your application in good time to ensure it can be considered.

Documents to download

• Band 3 Job description and personal specification (PDF, 230.7 KB)
• Join the RUH (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Further details / informal visits contact

Name Stephen Forsythe
Job title Specimen Reception Manager
Email address [e-mail]
Telephone number 01225 824437