Specialist Grade Doctor Microbiology

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust; North East; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 112,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in North East England is looking for a Specialist Grade Doctor in Microbiology. The role involves providing comprehensive diagnostic microbiology services and working with clinical teams to deliver patient care. Candidates should possess significant clinical microbiology experience, a medical qualification, and be eligible to work in the UK. Competitive salary between £100,870 and £111,441 per annum. Applications from diverse backgrounds are encouraged.

Qualifications

• Must have extensive postgraduate clinical experience.
• Relevant clinical knowledge in microbiology is required.
• Ability to manage clinical decision-making is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide efficient and comprehensive microbiology services.
• Participate in infection control and management.
• Work closely with laboratory and clinical teams.

Skills

Clinical Microbiology experience

Technical skills in laboratory techniques

Research and audit abilities

Proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Clinical judgment

Education

MBBS or equivalent medical qualification

RCPath Part 2 examinations completed

Full GMC registration

Job description

Overview

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Specialist Grade Doctor in Microbiology. Closing date: 11 February 2026. We are looking for an enthusiastic and driven candidate to be part of our microbiology clinical team as a Specialist Doctor. We are keen to support development including the CESR portfolio.

The service is embracing new ideas to enable us to support expanding and ever changing demands on microbiology. This role is new to our service and will work within our consultant team and closely with our laboratory to manage Trust and primary care workload, and develop a service fit for the future. The role is offered at 10PAs with a 1.4PA on-call premium.

CDDFT pathology is embracing change and this is an opportunity to help shape the service. New equipment through our managed service contract and new laboratory information systems are in the pipeline for delivery over the next 2 years, so we are looking for someone with vision to fit into our team and support this exciting period of change.

The service provides a wide range of microbiology, virology and serology testing to the County Durham and Darlington population of 600,000 residents. You will work closely with the laboratory and clinical staff across the Trust and primary care sector, providing diagnostic results and clinical advice.

Main duties of the job

• Provide a comprehensive, efficient and cost-effective diagnostic and clinical microbiology service (including bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology).
• Provide appropriate advice and result interpretation on the tests performed within the department under the supervision of the Consultant Microbiologist, including interpretation of aberrant results and discussions with clinicians.
• Participate in ward rounds as an important part of the role.
• Be an experienced specialist doctor who has completed the RCPath Part 2 examination. On-call provision is a part of this role, supporting a 24/7 laboratory. The appointee will be able to work autonomously on call within 3 months of appointment.
• Be a member of the Infection Control team and participate in providing IPC services to the Trust and other users of the service, supporting consultants and infection control nurses in day-to-day infection control management.

About us

We provide hospital services from two acute sites: Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale, as well as over 80 other community-based settings and care in patients’ homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents. From April 9th 2025, Healthcare assistants must have been employed for a minimum of two years as an NHS HCA for Trust sponsorship eligibility (sponsorship considered only if criteria are met and visa expires within 3 months).

Job responsibilities

The service is delivered mainly for two acute sites: University Hospital of North Durham and Darlington Memorial Hospital. Depending on service needs and in agreement with the appointing manager and applicant, the base will be at University Hospital of North Durham or Darlington Memorial Hospital, but the post holder will be required to work at any location within the Trust.

The successful applicant will participate in all aspects of work in the department, share in the general administrative and management duties, and take part in supervision, review and development of the laboratory service. They will perform a broad and demanding range of clinical and managerial work to maintain working practices in the Clinical Microbiology laboratory and will work closely with the consultant microbiology team, with guidance and supervision as needed and with potential for autonomous work. There will be a compulsory on-call commitment as part of this post.

• Clinical: provide appropriate advice and result interpretation on the tests performed within the department under the supervision of the Consultant Microbiologist.
• Liaison with clinicians, hospital staff and GP practices concerning diagnosis and management of patients and prevention of infection; participate in ward rounds in ICU and other areas as requested.
• Maintain awareness of analytical methods, understand reactions and limitations to validate reports and explain anomalies to clinicians.
• Use patterns of abnormalities in laboratory results with clinical details to formulate differential diagnoses and guide ongoing investigations/treatments.
• Provide clinical input and interpretation of results to clinicians, directly or via the department’s duty rota.
• Attend RCA, MDT meetings as required and be involved in root cause analysis and action planning when incidents occur.
• Compulsory 1.0 WTE on-call commitment with onboarding to the on-call rota within 3 months, progressing from consultant-supervised to autonomous working.

Infection Control

• Be a member of the Infection Control team and participate in providing infection prevention and control services to the Trust.
• Liaise with the trust IPCT team regarding alert organisms and outbreaks.
• Participate in investigation of infection control incidents and in action planning to reduce hospital-acquired infection, including root cause analysis following incidents.

Laboratory

• Involvement in all day-to-day operations to UKAS standards with appropriate technical support.
• Regular daily liaison with the laboratory technical staff.
• Reporting of laboratory results, authorising and providing medical interpretation as appropriate.
• Contribute to provision of a comprehensive, efficient and cost-effective diagnostic and clinical microbiology service; advise the section senior on clinical implications of quality issues (EQA and IQC).
• Assist in the introduction of new methods and preparation of business cases/plans.

Person Specification

Statutory Registration

• GMC

Special Skills & Knowledge

• Previous experience in a Clinical Microbiology laboratory at Specialty Doctor or equivalent.
• Technical skills in a wide range of laboratory techniques.
• Ability to perform research, development and audit activities.
• Proficiency with basic computer programmes such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to manage clinical authorisation and clinical decision making.

Experience

• Extensive postgraduate clinical experience with significant experience in a relevant specialty at Specialty Doctor or equivalent.
• Relevant specialty clinical knowledge and the ability to apply sound clinical knowledge to the job.
• Clinical judgement and experience in making clinical decisions and managing risk; knows when to seek help and how to prioritise clinical need.
• Proven ability to work effectively in different clinical settings; proven publication record in an area of clinical microbiology.
• Demonstrated interest in general microbiology and another specialty area.

Qualifications

• MBBS or equivalent medical qualification.
• Postgraduate qualification: RCPath Part 2 examinations completed.
• Full GMC registration at time of appointment.
• Eligibility to work in the UK.
• Working towards CESR.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and a DBS disclosure will be required to check for any previous criminal convictions.

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

£100,870 to £111,441 a year MC70 Payscale per annum