Sterile Services

Buckinghamshire Healthcare Nhs Trust; Aylesbury; On-site; GBP 19,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is seeking a Sterile Services Assistant for Stoke Mandeville Hospital. You will handle essential medical devices, learn the full decontamination cycle, and undertake training on HTM01-01, ISO13485 and other standards.

Experience in Sterile Services isn’t essential, as full training is provided. The role involves on-site work with a focus on accuracy, safety, and teamwork within a busy hospital setting.

Qualifications

• Good standard of education including English Language.
• TVQ Level 1 / 2 or equivalent in a similar industry or evidence of a successfully completed in-house SSD training scheme.

Responsibilities

• Accurately exchange information with colleagues and customers to enable prioritisation of work and resolution of problems.
• Understand a range of routine work procedures that require in house training.
• Maintain and update knowledge of instruments across a wide range of surgical specialties.
• Understand and maintain knowledge of decontamination procedures including safe operation of automated machinery.
• Participate in on-call team when fully trained.
• Maintain educational standards by attending departmental lectures and hospital courses regularly to meet Health & Safety requirements.
• Ensure best practice is adhered to at all times.
• Daily maintenance of theatre instruments, dismantling and re-assembling of surgical instruments following the relevant work instructions.
• Responsible for data entry to maintain records of instrumentation within the department.

Skills

Basic computer skills

Good communication

Hand-eye coordination

Manual dexterity

Attention to detail

Willingness to learn

Self-motivated

Able to work standing

Ability to work under written specs

Education

Good standard of education including English Language

TVQ Level 1/2 or equivalent

Job description

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the new recently completed Sterile Services Department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

As a Sterile Services Assistant you will be handling medical devices which are essential to the surgical teams and a key component of the patients care plan.

Applicants will be given training on the complete decontamination/ sterilisation cycle.

Applicants will also be expected to undertake additional training including relevant legislation HTM01-01, ISO13485 for example and other quality driven standards.

Previous Sterile Services experience is not essential.

Main duties of the job

• Accurately exchange information with colleagues and customers to enable; prioritisation of work and prevention/resolution of problems.
• Understand a range of routine work procedures that require in house training.
• Maintain and update knowledge of instruments across a wide range of surgical specialties.
• Understand and maintain knowledge of decontamination procedures including safe operation of automated machinery.
  Participate in on-call team when fully trained.
• Maintain educational standards by attending departmental lectures and hospital courses regularly to meet the requirements of Health & Safety.
• Ensure recommended best practice is adhered to at all times.
• Daily maintenance of theatre instruments, dismantling and re-assembling of surgical instruments following the relevant work instructions.
• Responsible for data entry to maintain records of instrumentation within the department.

Working for our organisation

Listen to why colleagues think we are a great place to work! -

What does Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust offer you?

• As part of our BHT family, you’ll benefit from learning and development opportunities to support your career progression.
• We offer flexible and agile working opportunities, alongside your NHS benefits of generous annual leave entitlement, pension and access to NHS discount schemes.
• We provide a range of health and wellbeing services to promote a healthy, happy workforce.

Why work for us?

• We’re committed to promoting inclusion and making sure all colleagues feel they belong. We encourage new colleagues from a diverse range of backgrounds to apply.
• As an employer, we aim to create a workplace where differences are valued and colleagues treat one another with dignity and respect.
• Greater diversity within our BHT family improves positive outcomes for the people and communities we serve.
• A keen supporter of the Armed Forces Community who know the value of employing a service leaver/veteran and their families.

What do we stand for?

• Our vision is to provide outstanding care, support healthy communities and be a great place to work.
• Our mission is to provide personal and compassionate care every time.
• Our care values are collaborate, aspire, respect and enable.

Person specification

EDUCATION, QUALIFICATIONS & TRAINING

Essential criteria

• Good standard of education including English Language.

Desirable criteria

• TVQ Level 1 / 2 or equivalent in a similar industry or evidence of a successfully completed in-house SSD training scheme.

EXPERIENCE

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience of working in a Sterile Services Department or similar industry e.g. Medical or Pharmaceutical Company.
• Experience of dealing with customers and/or public.
• Experience of working to an internationally recognised quality management system.
• Work experience in a hospital.

SKILLS, ABILITIES & KNOWLEDGE

Essential criteria

• Basic computer skills.
• Good communication skills both verbal and written in English with all disciplines of staff
• Basic numeracy
• Good hand to eye co-ordination
• Good manual dexterity and ability to handle small delicate objects, willingness to pay attention to detail and recognise a large variety of different instruments
• Keen to learn and train within the post
• Self-motivated
• Able to withstand the sight of blood and body tissue
• Able to maintain a neat tidy working environment and produce consistent and accurate results in a repetitive production situation working to strict written specifications with high value items

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Essential criteria

• Able to work whilst standing for prolonged periods in a restricted area wearing protective clothing at all times
• Ability to follow instructions whilst working at speed
• Ability to work unsupervised during weekends, evenings and when called in for emergency situations
• Ability to lift moderately heavy weights
• Prepared to attend work in the event of a major incident

PPE requirements:

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust requires all colleagues to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with our infection prevention and control procedures.

Flu vaccinations

remain the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the viruses when working in our healthcare settings. We encourage our staff to be vaccinated when recommended.

Application deadline: This post will close on the closing date stated at midnight, however if we receive a large number of applications or there is a change in circumstance, we may be required to close a job before the advertised date.

Application information: If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records (ESR) system.

Shortlisting: The monitoring and safeguarding sections are not made visible to the shortlisting panel. The safeguarding section may be made visible to the interview panel, dependent on the role being recruited into.

Travel expenses: It is Trust policy that travel expenses for interviews will not be reimbursed.

Smoking: All Trust sites are NO SMOKING. Smoking in all areas of the buildings and premises is prohibited.

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