Associate Practitioner

Undertake routine and non-routine tests or activities as identified by individual laboratories.

Responsible for monitoring and performing daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance of laboratory equipment.

Perform various technical and quality control processes within their scope of competencies.

Use scientific knowledge to recognise and act on non-conformances or unexpected outcomes.

Perform basic troubleshooting tasks on laboratory equipment.

The post holder will be a part of a team of Biomedical Scientists and Biomedical support workers delivering a high-quality Pathology Service.

The post holder will participate in all quality activities and be expected to attend departmental huddles on a regular basis.

The post holder will be required to train/teach staff within the scope of their competencies.

The post holder will be required to undertake their responsibilities within any of the sections of Pathology to comply with national standards e.g., ISO15189 and HTA

The post holder must have some experience in working in a histology lab and have an understanding of histology processes

Job description

Communication

Communicate in a manner that is consistent with legislation policies and procedures.

Communicate effectively with all members of the Pathology staff, clinicians and visitors to the department.

Improve communication by the use of communication skills.

Be aware of possible barriers to communication and how to overcome them.

Deal sensitively with patient/ clinician enquiries in stressful situations.

Ensure confidentiality of all written verbal and electronic information.

Keep accurate and complete records in line with legislation, policies and procedures.

Provide approved departmental information and advice to other healthcare professionals, patients and the public, referring on appropriate specialist request for information outside their area of responsibility.

Be able to use all relevant forms of communication.

Attend and participate in departmental meetings.

Personal and People Development

Take responsibility for own personal development and take an active part in learning opportunities.

A portfolio must be maintained to demonstrate:-

How the post holder is applying skills and knowledge in relation to their KSF outline.

To record that the post holder is keeping up to date with current scientific and technical developments including participation in scientific meetings as appropriate.

Be required to have achieved the appropriate qualification, e.g Foundation Degree in Healthcare Science.

Be required to assist in the training and development of Biomedical Support Workers, in the procedures for which the post holder is responsible.

Attend all Mandatory and role specific training.

Health Safety and Security

Comply with the policies and procedures of Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust.

Observe and adhere to local and national risk management and Health and safety policies.

Safely handle potentially infectious blood, faeces, other body tissue and hazardous chemicals on a daily basis.

Keep the workbenches clean and tidy.

Service Improvement

Maintain a flexible approach to the post in order to rapidly assimilate changes in workload, patterns and requirements.

Alert their line manager when users of the service are adversely affected.

Participate in audit and other service evaluation when required.

Comment on any proposed changes to own work area when required.

Quality

Comply with good work practices in accordance with the standards of UKAS and the Health Protection Agency.

Measure and monitor the accuracy and imprecision of laboratory investigations using appropriate quality control procedures.

Undertake appropriate validation as directed by Senior BMS.

Be able to cope with unpredictable workload and maintain quality.

Recognise and then take corrective action when quality control or assurance procedures indicate loss of performance of the laboratory instruments or methods reporting any out of consensus results to registered BMS staff.

Monitor performance of biomedical support workers if required

Equality & Diversity

Treat everyone associated with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust with dignity, courtesy and respect.

Be aware of and act in accordance with legislation and policies.

Recognise and report behaviour that undermines equality and diversity.

Biomedical Investigation

Be able to interpret and follow standard operating procedures.

Perform biomedical investigations to the point of technical validation as specified by the Senior BMS including:-

Automated techniques

Semi automated techniques

Manual techniques

Be responsible for stock control of reagents and other consumables.

Be responsible for resolving outstanding work lists.

Be responsible retrieving retrospective specimens.

Check and confirm the identify and quality of specimens/samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols including the checking of anomalous or abnormal results.

Handle and deal with specimens/samples in a way which:-

is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency.

maintains the required quality and integrity.

maintains their unique identification and their links to relevant records/documentation.

is appropriate to the nature and stage of the investigation.

Assess the process and outcomes of investigations using the correct quality control criteria referring anomalous results to the biomedical scientist staff.

Store and prepare and use reagents according to manufacturers instructions.

Participate in the introduction of new methods in the laboratory.

Refer to biomedical scientist staff in the case of incidents which put health and safety or the quality of specimens at risk.

Comply with legislation, policies and procedures.

Equipment

Responsible for monitoring and performing daily, weekly and monthly maintenance of laboratory equipment, ensuring that logs are completed.

Check the safety and functioning of all equipment.

Perform simple troubleshooting and report malfunctions to BMS staff.

Participate in the introduction of new equipment or methods to the department.

Contribute to method and laboratory instrument evaluation as directed.

Assist in the resolution of equipment or method failures, which may include dismantling instruments to carry out simple repairs.

Be able to use the sample tracking systems and store samples appropriately.

Information Collection & analysis

Comply with local and national policies for the safe, secure and confidential processing, and storage of patient and other laboratory information.

Use the Laboratory and appropriate Trust Information System according to the authorised protocols.

Enter patient demographics and technical laboratory data onto the Laboratory Information System.

Collect and collate data/information effectively and to time, using set systems and consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.

Be able to monitor the temperature monitoring system and act appropriately on temperature excursions.

Stock control of reagents and other consumables.

Confirm that the data/information meets pre-set quality criteria.

Maintain the integrity of data/information using agreed procedures.

Report the data/information clearly in the required format at the time agreed.

People Management

Plan and prioritise own work to meet deadlines.

Supervise and allocate work to Biomedical Support Workers.

Report poor performance to Biomedical Scientist staff

Person specification

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Minimum of Foundation degree in Healthcare Science or equivalent e.g. IBMS Certificate of Competence level 1.
• GSCE's in Mathematics and English.

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Working experience in the relevant NHS Pathology discipline.
• experience in histology processess
• Understanding of quality indices.

Desirable

• can prioritise own work load
• Experience of listed current platforms in use.

Skills

Essential

• Oral & written communication skills.
• Ability to transmit information to other healthcare professionals.
• Effective interpersonal skills.
• Able to perform routine histological techniques.
• Maintenance and troubleshooting on histology equipment.

Desirable

• Experience of current Laboratory LIMS system.

About the employer

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

We recognise that AI tools can be helpful when drafting job applications; however, we ask candidates to keep their use to a minimum. Your responses should reflect your own experiences, skills and knowledge. Over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in responses that are generic or do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) was formed through the grouping of Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As one group, we are on a journey to improve services for our communities by working collaboratively, modernising the way we deliver care and continually striving for excellence.

Working together allows us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities . There may be a requirement to work across our hospital sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage.

UHN welcomes applications from people from all protected groups and is committed to creating an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and have achieved the Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. Our active staff networks support colleagues from all backgrounds and help ensure everyone feels valued here at UHN