Sterile Services Technician - Ipswich

East Suffolk And North Essex Nhs Foundation Trust; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust in Ipswich is recruiting a Sterilisation/Decontamination Technician. The role involves cleaning and preparing surgical instruments, operating decontamination equipment, and assisting in the Endoscopy Reprocessing Unit and Sterilisation Unit.

Training will be provided and the team supports theatres and clinics across Suffolk. Experience in medical device reprocessing is desirable, and the post requires careful attention to detail and good

Qualifications

• Essential: NVQ3 (Technical Certificate Decontamination) or equivalent level of knowledge and experience in decontamination.
• Knowledge and experience in the decontamination of reusable medical devices.
• Excellent communication, numeracy and literacy skills; ability to work under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Operation of decontamination equipment, pushing and pulling trolley, stock control, lifting heavy theatre sets and processing reusable medical devices.
• Work as part of a team to deliver high standards of cleanliness and patient safety.
• Maintain accurate records and contribute to a busy Endoscopy Reprocessing Unit and Sterilisation Unit.

Skills

Teamwork

Teamwork

Attention to detail

Keyboard skills

Education

NVQ3 Decontamination

Tools

Decontamination equipment

Job description

Job summary

Are you an experienced Sterile Services technician or wonder what it takes to become one? Do you have great attention to detail and are a fast learner?

If you ever wondered what happens to surgical instruments after they have been used, we might have just the job for you!

Ipswich Hospital Sterilisation and Decontamination department is looking for additional decontamination technicians to join our team and you could be what we are looking for! This role includes washing of surgical instruments.

To work in our busy Decontamination Department means to work in Endoscopy Reprocessing Unit as well as Sterilisation Unit. We reprocess nearly 2 million surgical instruments and endoscopes a year, providing services to theatres, clinics and external healthcare providers all over Suffolk and beyond.

Previous experience in medical device manufacturing/reprocessing would be desirable. You will receive full training in this post.

***PROPOSED INTERVIEW DATE: WEDNESDAY, 16TH SEPTEMBER 2026***

***PLEASE NOTE: VACANCY MAY CLOSE EARLY IF SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS ARE RECEIVED.***

Main duties of the job

Duties of this role will include: Operation of decontamination equipment, pushing and pulling trolley, stock control, lifting heavy theatre sets and processing reusable medical devices.

You will need: good communication and interpersonal skills, excellent attention to detail, excellent customer services attributes, good numeracy and literacy skills and good retentive memory.

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Knowledge and experience in the decontamination of reusable medical devices

Skills

Essential

• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work accurately under pressure
• A working knowledge of keyboard, typing and computer skills

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ3 (Technical Certificate Decontamination) or equivalent level of knowledge and experience through decontamination training

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.