Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Cellular Pathology Administrative Assistant

The closing date is 22 March 2026

Job summary

NHS Band 2 Salary: £25,272 per annum (effective from 01/04/2026)

Hours Per Week: 37.5 full time

Contract Type: Permanent

The Histopathology Department at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is a key diagnostic service supporting Cancer Services and multiple specialties. We process around 42,000 cases and generate over 350,000 slides annually. We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised Administrative Assistant to join our busy and friendly Cellular Pathology office. You will support Consultant Pathologists, MDT Coordinators, and laboratory staff to help deliver a high-quality, efficient service that directly impacts patient care. This is an ideal opportunity for someone with excellent attention to detail, strong IT and communication skills, and a proactive approach to teamwork in a healthcare environment.

Main duties of the job

Key Responsibilities:

The post holder will be expected to participate in the following activities:

Manage the departmental email inbox and respond to telephone enquiries in a professional and timely manner.
Support the MDT Coordinator with preparing and retrieving case information for multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings.
Liaise with pathology MDT Coordinator and Consultant Pathologists regarding patient cases and referrals.
Coordinate and track case referrals, including send-away and second opinion requests, ensuring all documentation is accurate and complete.
Process and monitor Renal Electron Microscopy administration tasks.
Coordinate molecular referrals, ensuring accurate documentation and reports are transcribed onto the system in a timely turnaround for external testing.
Input and maintain accurate records using Trust systems and Microsoft Office applications.
Organise and maintain physical and digital files, ensuring full compliance with data protection and confidentiality standards.
Support and promote Health and Safety and quality assurance compliance within the department.
Ensure completion of all mandatory and role-specific training in accordance with Trust policy.
Participate in a rotation across administrative duties within the Cellular Pathology office to support service flexibility.

About us

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and DisAbility, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veterans status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.

Date posted

06 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£25,272 a year (effective from 01/04/2026)

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

REF1802V

Job locations

Queen Alexandra Hospital

Southwick Hill Road

Cosham

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

We are looking for an enthusiastic and organised Administrative Assistant to join our busy and friendly Cellular Pathology office. You will support Consultant Pathologists, MDT Coordinators, and laboratory staff to help deliver a high-quality, efficient service that directly impacts patient care.

This is an ideal opportunity for someone with excellent attention to detail, strong IT and communication skills, and a proactive approach to teamwork in a healthcare environment.

The post holder will be required:

To perform all duties to the best of the post holders ability under conditions which are often stressful due to time constraints, staffing levels, environmental conditions and nature of samples received.
To participate in an annual appraisal and personal development review and appraise lower grade staff.
To demonstrate continual professional development to maintain skills and knowledge and maintain essential skills compliance.
To co-operate with other departmental and hospital staff to promote awareness of the professional image of Pathology throughout the Trust.
To co-operate with other departmental and hospital staff to promote awareness of the professional image of Pathology throughout the Trust Proven experience as an administrative assistant or in a similar role.

For additional information please see attached Job description.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose:

This is an ideal opportunity for someone with excellent attention to detail, strong IT and communication skills, and a proactive approach to teamwork in a healthcare environment.

The post holder will be required:

To perform all duties to the best of the post holders ability under conditions which are often stressful due to time constraints, staffing levels, environmental conditions and nature of samples received.
To participate in an annual appraisal and personal development review and appraise lower grade staff.
To demonstrate continual professional development to maintain skills and knowledge and maintain essential skills compliance.
To co-operate with other departmental and hospital staff to promote awareness of the professional image of Pathology throughout the Trust.
To co-operate with other departmental and hospital staff to promote awareness of the professional image of Pathology throughout the Trust Proven experience as an administrative assistant or in a similar role.

For additional information please see attached Job description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and Maths.
Administrative/clerical training.

Desirable

RSA or NVQ in Business Administration.
Medical terminology training.

Experience

Essential

Previous admin experience.
Experience using Microsoft Office.
Handling phone and email enquiries.

Desirable

NHS or healthcare software packages.

Additional criteria

Essential

Excellent accuracy and attention to detail.
Good communication and organisational skills.
Data entry proficiency.
Basic understanding of office procedures.
Awareness of data protection standards.

Desirable

Minute-taking.
Typing/transcription experience.
Knowledge of pathology workflows.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

GCSEs (or equivalent) in English and Maths.
Administrative/clerical training.

Desirable

RSA or NVQ in Business Administration.
Medical terminology training.

Experience

Essential

Previous admin experience.
Experience using Microsoft Office.
Handling phone and email enquiries.

Desirable

NHS or healthcare software packages.

Additional criteria

Essential

Excellent accuracy and attention to detail.
Good communication and organisational skills.
Data entry proficiency.
Basic understanding of office procedures.
Awareness of data protection standards.

Desirable

Minute-taking.
Typing/transcription experience.
Knowledge of pathology workflows.

Employer details

Employer name

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Address

Queen Alexandra Hospital

Southwick Hill Road

Cosham

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Employer's website

https://www.porthosp.nhs.uk/work-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Address

Queen Alexandra Hospital

Southwick Hill Road

Cosham

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Employer's website

https://www.porthosp.nhs.uk/work-for-us/ (Opens in a new tab)