Medical Laboratory Assistant

Job overview

PATHOLOGY
Department of Infection - Virology

Medical Laboratory Assistant – Band 3 – 

Full Time: 37½ hours per week.  
The purpose of the NHS East and South East London Pathology Partnership (ESEL) is to provide patients with a high-quality, cost-effective service, and ensure the longer-term sustainability of NHS pathology services in east and south east London. 

We are a new organisation, jointly owned by Barts Health NHS Trust, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Set up as an arms-length organisation, hosted by Barts Health NHS Trust, we have our own board and governance, with each of the three trusts having an equal voice and vote in the running of the Pathology Partnership. One of the largest pathology providers in the NHS, the Pathology Partnership brings together the strengths of teams from each of the three trusts into a single organisation, dedicated to the provision of pathology.

A complex transformation programme has commenced to become a single, integrated pathology network. The aspired ‘hub and spoke’ operating model, centred at The Royal London Hospital (RLH) and connected to essential service laboratories located at partnered hospitals.

The Department of Virology is situated in a modern purpose built facility adjacent to the Royal London Hospital. The Department of Virology has around 35 staff, processing over 900,000 tests per year. We provide a comprehensive clinical and diagnostic Virology service with a full range of methodologies including automated serology and molecular-based diagnostics. The Virology Laboratory maintains and is currently expanding, a wide range of diagnostic specialities to meet the demands of an acute teaching hospital environment and a diverse patient population. We are UKAS accredited and a recognised HCPC / IBMS training laboratory.

We are proud of our state of the art platforms and innovative processes. We have a broad range of platforms and techniques and welcome new ideas and developments. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who will rise to the challenges of our diverse patient base and who will enjoy opportunities to get involved in research, training, quality, validation, and to broaden their experience.

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The post holder will be based at the Royal London Hospital but may be required periodically to work on one of the other sites, Newham University Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital, St Bartholomews Hospital, Homerton University Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Woolwich). We are looking for someone who has had experience in a Virology Laboratory. Their duties must have included operating and maintaining analysers, preferably experience with those mentioned above. They will also need to be efficient, demonstrate attention to detail and be able to work as part of a team.

The post-holder will be expected to participate in a late and weekend shift rota.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.  

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.  

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.  

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.