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Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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About
The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) is one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in the UK, with a national and international reputation for the excellence of its services and its role in teaching and research.
Find out more about the Trust on their web-site at www.ouh.nhs.uk
Watch how OUH goes about delivering compassionate excellence on the ouhnhs YouTube channel
Healthcare Science Assistant
Accepting applications until: 14-Jul-2024 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 14-Jul-2024 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Churchill Hospital
- Address
- Churchill Drive
- Town
- Oxord
- Postcode
- OX3 7LE
- Major / Minor Region
- Oxfordshire
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- 37.5 hours per week (Full time or part time hours)
Salary
- Salary
- £22,816 - £24,336 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (Band 3)
Specialty
- Main area
- Genetics Laboratory
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.
The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
Many of our recruitment programmes use Value Based Interviewing to identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values
Job overview
The Oxford Genetics Laboratories has three vacancies for full time or part time Healthcare Science Assistants to join the Specimen Reception team at the Churchill or John Radcliffe hospital site. The successful candidates will be able to demonstrate manual dexterity, good organisational skills, accuracy, consistency and attention to detail in their work.
This role would suit someone with zero or limited laboratory experience looking to start a career in Healthcare Science or someone looking for a change in career path. Previous laboratory experience is desirable but not essential, as full training will be provided and all work will be undertaken according to defined written protocols.
Your main responsibilities will include receiving samples into the laboratory, entering information into the database and carrying out practical processes in the lab, e.g. cell culture and DNA extraction, to prepare the sample for use by other technical and scientific teams. Additional duties will include general housekeeping, administration tasks, maintaining equipment and arranging to send samples to other laboratories.
The laboratory is open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and the pattern of full time work is typically rotation between 8am-4pm, 9am-5pm and 10am-6pm.
Requests for part-time hours will be considered. Please include details within the application.
Advert
Healthcare Science Assistants provide technical and administrative support for the department. They take personal responsibility for their own work, which is routine and protocol driven, on a daily basis subject to the supervision of higher graded technologists or clinical scientists. They participate in defined regular duties, including monitoring of work areas for health and safety and cleanliness and general laboratory housekeeping tasks. They may undertake occasional other duties due to specific requests.
They process a wide range of pathological specimens referred for a broad range of inherited conditions according to standard operating procedures, and are competent in the use of patient databases.
They are expected to communicate technical and confidential information to colleagues within their department in electronic, written and verbal forms.
Healthcare Science Assistants participate in the teaching and training load of the department through demonstration of own performance of appropriate standard operating procedures to new members of staff or less experienced employees within the limits of their experience. They also attend appropriate training seminars, and actively participate in regular section and departmental meetings.
Healthcare Science Assistants act under the supervision of clinical scientists or higher graded technologists, but take personal responsibility to organise their own work on a daily basis, much of which is ongoing, routine and protocol-driven.
Working for our organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. Find out more here www.ouh.nhs.uk
The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Clinical Service
1. Assist in the delivery of the technical service of a section/subsection or designated area of work to nationally accepted standards (UKAS or equivalent) with appropriate supervision to include the following:
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- Follow standard operating procedures for the receipt, booking in and processing of samples
- Review appropriate risk and COSHH assessments in areas relevant to own practise and abide by laboratory health and safety policies
- Arrange dispatch of different types of samples. Deal with queries relating to the receipt and dispatch of samples, including products of conception (received for post-mortem examination), and other tissues.
- Establish, maintain, sub-culture and harvest cell cultures, or undertake DNA extraction, from a variety of biological specimens received which may be high risk (eg HIV, Hep C) and/ or derived from recognisable human or fetal parts, by all methods currently employed in the laboratory and to work safely under exposure to toxic substances which are hazardous to health.
- Identify samples that have failed to be processed efficiently by evaluation of quality criteria, and bring them to the attention of senior technologist or scientists for further discussion.
-
Liaise with senior technical or scientific colleagues over availability of equipment, sample prioritisation, or requirement for supplementary cell cultures or chromosome preparations, when planning work schedules in designated areas of work, in accordance with laboratory protocols and under the supervision of the Section Head and/or Laboratory Director.
-
Supply a high level of technical expertise in the investigative procedures involved and take a daily responsibility for his/her own work, subject to the supervision and direction of section head or other senior staff. Be adaptable to changing diagnostic workload pressures, by making independent day-to-day decisions about own workload. The post holder must communicate all problems with, and when necessary obtain help/advice from, appropriate senior staff
-
Attend, and actively participate in, team and laboratory meetings with opportunity to propose improvements in efficiency and changes to scientific and technical protocols and to contribute to the development and implementation of departmental policies within the limits of experience.
Laboratory Management
7. Undertake appropriate duties to fulfil quality control programs, including recording of appropriate data according to operating procedures, validation and verification of new reagents and protocols.
8. Safely handle and store chemicals of a volatile or hazardous nature including carcinogens and neurotoxic agents. Dispose of hazardous chemicals and biohazard waste.
9. Assist in the daily maintenance, monitoring and care of instrumentation within the laboratory (to include safety, performance and temperature of equipment e.g. biological safety cabinets, incubators, fridges and freezers).
- Undertake general laboratory house-keeping tasks on a rotational basis, such as maintenance and organisation of the stock room and chemical shelves, washing-up, autoclaving, laundry
Staff
- Participate in the teaching and training of new members of staff or less experienced employees in own work area by demonstrating own work activities and routine practice.
Research and Service Development
- Assist clinical scientists in research and development projects which meet the overall objectives of the department.
Personal development
- Attend relevant in house training at an appropriate level for the development and maintenance of skills, knowledge and expertise required for the post (eg training on specific equipment/instrumentation, presentations on relevant topics)
Informatics/Bioinformatics
- Be proficient at entering and retrieving relevant information from Excel spreadsheets and databases, including the laboratory information management system (LIMS).
General
- Abide by all Operational Policies applicable to the Department
- Co-operate with management and safety representatives in matters connected with the Health and Safety at Work Act of Practice for safety in laboratories
- Take responsibility for the accuracy of his/her own work, and undertake an appropriate proportion of the total workload of the Department. The post holder will collaborate with all other staff, to be an effective team member, and achieve optimal use of resources
- Participate in internal quality control and internal and external quality assessment procedures
- Work within the section/subsection to ensure achievement of and adherence to the standards required of an accredited laboratory, in close liaison with the Quality manager and under the direction of the section head and laboratory director.
- Participate in the preparation of the department for accreditation.
- Implement laboratory record keeping processes and assist with retrieval and presentation of data as required
- Take responsibility with others for the maintenance of stocks of reagents and consumables to ensure the proper functioning of the laboratory and efficient use of resources. Ensure that all equipment is used appropriately and safely and that any faults are reported for immediate rectification
- Take responsibility with others for the daily maintenance of complex instrumentation systems within the laboratory
- Participate in regular performance review and personal development planning
- Attend regular team, laboratory and departmental meetings and contribute to the development and implementation of departmental policies
- Maintain confidentiality of information about patients, staff and other health service business in accordance with Data Protection Act of 1984.
- Participate in out of hours duties, if required, in line with the Department Out of Hours Policy
- Work such hours as required for the effective and timely performance of his/her duties, as specified in the terms of the contract of employment
- Undertake any other duties commensurate with experience and job role as a result of changes to the service as agreed by the Consultant Head of Laboratory or Trust and reviewed as part of the annual staff appraisal
COVID-19: The COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not a condition of employment , we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated there is helpful advice and information at Oxfordshire County Council Website where you can also find out more about how to access vaccination.
Nursing and Midwifery: For candidates applying from outside the UK: Please be advised that we work in partnership with Envertiz who will be managing your recruitment therefore by applying you are consenting to us passing your contact details and application to Envertiz so they can manage your recruitment and on-boarding. If you do not consent to this, please do not apply.
Probation Period: This post is subject to a 6 month probationary period. If you currently hold a contract of employment with the Oxford University Hospitals, this will not apply. This statement does not apply to Medical staff or Executive Appointments.
Referencing: When providing employment reference details please provide correct work related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your first referee will need to be your line manager, supervisor or clinical lead from your current or most recent post or place of study. Please note that if you have previously worked for the Trust we will require a reference from your last Manager, this information is essential if your offer of employment is to be confirmed.
Next Steps: Please make sure that you read the job description and person specification, and that your supporting statement reflects this as your application will be judged against these criteria. Candidates selected for interview will be contacted after the short-listing process, usually within 2 weeks. (Please note that shortlisting times vary when applying for a Medical position within the Trust). The majority of correspondence will be via the e-recruitment system; therefore you should check your emails regularly including junk mail folders in web-based email products.
No unsolicited recruitment agency telephone calls or emails.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- • 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, including science.
Desirable criteria
- • QCF level 3 or equivalent: A/AS levels BTEC, NVQ level 3 including science.
- Does not have a degree level qualification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of Microsoft office or equivalent, navigating databases and spreadsheets
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience of laboratory work.
- • Experience of using and maintaining equipment.
Special knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Basic knowledge of human genetics, including role of DNA and chromosomes
Skills
Essential criteria
- Good level of attention to detail
- • Manual dexterity
- • Well organised
- • Team player
- • Ability to keep accurate written and computerised records
- • Good written and verbal communication skills
- • Good time management skills
Special attributes
Essential criteria
- Ability to cope with pressures of work
- • Able to handle range of human tissue samples.
- • Flexible approach to work.
- • Interest in human genetics and laboratory technology.
- • Recognises limits of responsibilities
- • Willing to learn
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Kate Gibson
- Job title
- Lead Genetic Technologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
For further information on the post please contact the laboratory on 01865 226001.
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