Blood Sciences Associate Practitioner

Job summary
9 months fixed term post working 24/7 shift system 30 hrs

The pathology departments at NTH and STH are, working collaboratively to develop a joint service with services being delivered on all hospital sites. This will require cross site working as appropriate.Whilst posts will be based predominantly at the James Cook University Hospital site to you will be expected to work between all sites with a Laboratory service (e.g., also Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, Hartlepool Hospital etc.) on a rotational basis, to meet the needs of the service.An opportunity has arisen for a number of Associate Practitioners to join our team in the Pathology Laboratory. Although working primarily in Biochemistry and Haematology, the successful applicants may also be required to work flexibly across the Blood Sciences laboratories according to service needs.You will be expected to participate on a full shift system to cover weekday, weekend, evening and night sessions.

Main duties of the job
Assisting the Biomedical Science team by processing Biochemistry /haematology samples and assisting with Immunology sample pre-analytical procedures. Good communications skills, teamwork and an aptitude for problem solving are essential, as is a flexible attitude to work and willingness to adapt to changes in working practice. Flexible working is a requirement for this post and the department operates a 24 hour shift system including weekend, bank holiday and night shifts at agenda for change rates. The successful applicant will be expected to participate fully in this rota after suitable training. South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to developing excellence and staff motivation is high on the agenda. Good interpersonal and intrapersonal skills are essential for this post. At University Hospital Tees our main priority is, and always will be, to provide safe and high quality care to our patients every day; the kind of care we would want for ourselves and our loved ones. We want our organisation to be the best place to work with the right staff, in the right roles, at the right time, to ensure we deliver exceptional patient care and experience. We will support staff through providing an inclusive and supportive workplace with health and well-being initiatives, staff benefits and opportunities for personal and professional development. Staff recognition is very important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals.

About us
We support the Making Every Contact Count approach to behaviour change in the promotion of health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust offers leadership and improvement training to all new staff. This training programme has been designed to support our staff in developing their understanding of leadership and management skills. You will be expected to attend the following training sessions:

• Your Leadership Impact
• Leading Your Team to Success
• Service Improvement for Beginners
• Developing your Service Improvement Skills

The leadership and improvement programme aims to:

• Explore leadership within the NHS
• Promote Trust values and behaviours
• Develop your leadership effectiveness and skills
• Equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to lead and complete service improvements within the scope of your role.

After you complete these three and a half days of training you will be able to explore further leadership and improvement training opportunities. We also offer further in-house courses and bitesize programmes through our Leadership and Improvement Team.

Job responsibilities
Please see the full job description and person specification document(s) attached for main responsibilities of the role.

Qualifications & Training
Essential

• Laboratory experience and one of the following: foundation degree, or IBMS part 2 portfolio of competence, or level 4 NVQ/BTEC, 2 A-levels, (one to be in a Science subject)
• Science degree or working towards

Desirable

• Experience of computer packages e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. or equivalent

Knowledge & Skills
Essential

• Knowledge of laboratory techniques.
• Basic understanding of Human Biology.
• Knowledge of basic scientific terminology.
• Understanding of laboratory Health and Safety issues.
• Knowledge of patient confidentiality.
• Good communication skills.
• Problem solving skills that allow lone working.

Experience
Essential

• Scientific/Laboratory experience
• Awareness of external and internal environment in which the department operates.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.

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