Sterile Services Technician

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Nhs Foundation Trust; London; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

An established healthcare provider is seeking a dedicated Sterile Services Technician to ensure the safety and efficiency of surgical operations. This role is pivotal in maintaining the highest standards of sterilization and decontamination of surgical instruments. You will be part of a dynamic team, ensuring compliance with stringent health and safety regulations while contributing to patient care. The position offers a unique opportunity to develop your skills in a supportive environment, where your attention to detail and commitment to quality will make a tangible difference in the lives of patients. If you are ready to take on this challenge, we encourage you to apply!

Qualifications

• Experience in decontaminating medical devices and surgical instruments.
• Knowledge of operating sterilization equipment and maintaining quality standards.

Responsibilities

• Decontaminate and sterilize surgical instruments and trays.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety regulations and ISO standards.

Skills

Attention to Detail

Compliance with ISO Standards

Communication Skills

Time Management

Education

Full UK Manual Driving License

Basic Hygiene Qualification

Decontamination Qualification

Tools

Washer Disinfectors

Sterilizers

Track & Trace System

Job description

HoursFull time - 37.5 hours per week (Rota is over 7 days (Rota including weekend and bank holidays))Job ref438-PB2911EmployerLancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustEmployer typeNHSSiteChorley & South Ribble HospitalTownChorleySalary£23,615 Per Annum, Pro RataSalary periodYearlyClosing08/04/2025 23:59Interview date23/04/2025

Employer heading

Band 2

Job overview

The role of Sterile Services Technician is a vital component in the day-to-day running of any surgery department. It requires focus and a microscopic attention to detail, ensuring the safety of all those involved in surgery, from staff to patient. If you think you are up to the challenge, we would love to hear from you!

As a Technician your role will be one that requires a methodical and accurate approach to the production of theatre trays and procedure packs containing surgical instrumentation and reprocessing endoscopes. This is accomplished using dedicated washers and sterilizer’s, that require the sets to be dismantled, decontaminated, reassembled and sterilized before being returned to the operating theatres. Adherence to departmental standards and procedures is essential .

Main duties of the job

Some of your day-to-day duties will include ensuring compliance with ISO 13485:2016 standards and meeting the requirements of the Medical Devices Regulations. You will be responsible for the collection, inspection, cleaning, disinfection, maintenance, assembling, packing, sealing, labeling, and sterilization of surgical instruments, trays, and equipment. It is essential to operate all equipment safely, following the provided work instructions, including washer disinfectors and sterilizers. Working as part of a team, you will ensure that all tasks are completed efficiently and within the required timeframes.

Additionally, you will be required to participate in weekend and Bank Holiday rotas to support continuous service delivery.

You may be required to drive a Light Goods Vehicle (LGV) during periods of staff shortages or emergency requests.

Working for our organisation

We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.

Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.

You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care and enhancing their experience which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To decontaminate re-usable medical devices effectively and in line with departmental deadlines requiring each set to be dismantled prior to cleaning and reassembled and checked prior to sterilization.

The department uses dedicated washers and sterilizer equipment as part of the process. Upon completion of appropriate training you will be required to understand and operate these machines.

The department has a dedicated training programme in addition to the trusts mandatory programme which all technicians are required to complete. The process has been broken down in to various modules which are to be completed before competency can be approved.

Technicians must ensure that the instrumentation is accurate against the instrument checklists both at receipt and at dispatch and has been recorded on the tracking system.

You will be required to work to strict adherence of an accredited Quality Management System (QMS) that the department is required to maintain in order to retain its accreditation with Medical Devices Directives

Effective communication with colleagues, supervisors and Managers is crucial. Information about instrument sets may need to be conveyed back to theatres or to other colleagues during shift changes.

As part of this role the department is required to collect dirty and distribute sterile instrumentation around numerous ward and clinic areas.

The department is required to maintain a pre-determined level of goods for use on wards and clinics. All technicians are required to participate in the departments Top-Up system to the wards and departments of the trust.

Ensure that stock, sets, and instrumentation is correctly rotated upon return to wards and departments to restrict the amount of sets reaching expiry.

Input data to produce checklists, labels and delivery notes using the departments track & trace system. The track & trace system enables all items to be tracked at each stage of the process thus providing an assurance that all instrumentation had undergone the correct and complete process

You will be expected to maintain a good standard of housekeeping throughout the department and adhere to environmental control limitation such as limited amounts of products to be stored and removal of external packaging prior to submission to the clean room.

The washers and sterilizers are required to undergo some basic daily housekeeping checks which are undertaken by the machine operative on a daily basis.

Push/pull instrument transportation trolleys

Person specification

Qualifications & Education

Essential criteria

Full UK Manual Driving License

Desirable criteria

Basic Hygiene qualification

Decontamination qualification

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

Awareness of Health & Safety at work policies

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of work undertaken by Sterile services

Knowledge of surgical instrumentation

Knowledge/ Experience of operating washers/ Sterilizers

Knowledge of COSHH

Experience of working in a cleanroom environment.

Awareness of quality control systems

Recent experience of manufacture in a sterile services department

Thanks for taking the time to view this advert; we’re looking forward to receiving your application. You should be aware that the vacancy may close earlier than the published date if sufficient applications are received so it would be best to apply as soon as you can. We’ll contact you by e-mail to update you on the progress of your application so please check the e-mail account that you applied from (including spam/junk) regularly.

Here

To support you in your application process we’ve created a What we can offer you guide that shows what you can expect when you join our hospitals. The guide includes links to our strategic aims and objectives as well as our values, development support and rewards and benefits. To help you get the best from your application we’ve also put together two guides to help you make your application the best it can be. Just click here and here to go through them, or have them open as you complete your application.

We recognise that the recruitment process may present barriers for some and you may need personal adjustments to enable you to participate in our recruitment process. Please make contact with the recruitment team at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information. AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored and if applicants have used it then they are required to declare this.

Supporting Information

The supporting information section is an opportunity for you to showcase how your qualifications, knowledge, skill and experiences align with the requirements and criteria outlined in the job description and person. Our recruiting managers score applications based on the criteria listed in the person specification. They will be looking for evidence of how you meet these criteria. To increase your chances of securing an interview, provide examples of how you have applied your skills and knowledge in real-life situations. Share work-related successes and challenges you’ve navigated that align with the criteria. These could be from various aspects of your life, including work, education, and personal experiences. Consider structuring your supporting information section with clear headings or bullet points. This approach will help both you and the recruiting manager navigate through your application more effectively.

Working Smarter pledge

We are reminded everyday of how important life is, so as part of our Working Smarter pledge we offer a variety of flexible working options and wellbeing support to enable our people to find and maintain the right work-life balance.

Secondments

[email protected]

Young People

Please note a young person must be in part-time education or training until they’re 18. therefore if you are under 18 we are unable to employ you on a full time basis, unless it is in an apprenticeship role.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks

If the role you’ve applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this on your behalf and the cost will be recovered from your salary, either as a one-off payment, or over 3 months. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £26.40 Standard DBS check £26.40 and Enhanced DBS check £54.40. You should be aware that if you are successful in obtaining a position that requires a DBS check but later withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check. DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions. The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here .

In line with guidance from United Kingdom Health Security Agency, all staff and volunteers are required to comply with Trust Infection Prevention and Control processes in relation to safe working. This includes mask wearing and adherence to social distancing at all Trust sites.

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We look forward to hearing from you soon!