Job summary
We at the Whittington Health Phlebotomy Department are looking for experienced and friendly phlebotomists to join our Team to work both in out-patient and in-patient environments.
This posts will provide cover to all of our phlebotomy facilities across Haringey and Islington in North London.
Are you enthusiastic? Conscientious and flexible? Do you take pride in your work and love working with people?
If these words describe you, then you could be just the person we're looking for.
Main duties of the job
To collect blood samples from patients through venepuncture as requested by clinicians and other appropriately authorised doctors and health professionals. To collect blood samples safely with due respect to the dignity of patients, and the needs of other clinical services. To ensure blood samples are collected in appropriate containers, labelled correctly, and prepared and dispatched to relevant laboratory sections in a timely and correct manner. To contribute to the provision of an efficient, high-quality service and ensure that proficiency and competence and personal and professional standards of that group are maintained.
Key Relationships:
- Patients
- Parents/carers and visitors
- Clinical teams (doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, play specialists, administrative staff)
- Team members
- Senior Operations Manager
Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. If you are unable to access the PDF, the details of the job description can also be found in the 'Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities' section.
About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trustbelieves that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Job description
Job responsibilities
MAIN DUTIES
Communication
- Ensure effective communication with all staff, patients and relatives, maintaining confidentiality at all times.
- To work closely with medical, nursing, laboratory, and phlebotomy staff to provide a rapid blood collection service, which is sensitive to service requirements at the CDC and affiiated sites.
- Ensure effective and sensitive communication with patients, using tact, reassurance and persuasive skills when needed in gaining trust and acceptance from patients prior to proceeding with the phlebotomy procedure.
- Ensure that all relevant information is relayed to clinical, nursing or laboratory staff in a timely manner.
- Demonstrate customer care skills when listening to concerns, dealing courteously with visitors, staff or patients and when using the telephone.
- Use information and computing technology skills to access information about the Trust.
Patient Care
- Co-operate with clinical, administrative, and managerial colleagues to understand their roles within the team and appreciate patient priorities.
- Deliver care to all patients regardless of their values, customs, gender, race, culture, religion or preferences.
- Deliver care that always upholds patients privacy and dignity.
- Report any clinical concerns or abnormalities to a registered professional.
- Check that relevant equipment is available and in working order, reporting any defects to the relevant staff.
- Receive, check and unpack deliveries to the unit and report on stock levels.
Personal and People Development
- The post holder is expected to take responsibility for self-development on a continuous basis, undertaking on-the-job and other training as required.
- Participate in the Trust Mandatory Training Programme.
- Participate in in-service training as appropriate.
- Act as role model to other phlebotomy staff.
- Assist with the supervision of junior learners.
- Actively participate in appraisal and staff annual review.
Health, Safety and Security
- Undertake appropriate training and practice to ensure you (and your teams) have the right skills and are competent.
- To adhere to Trust policy and infection control principles and standards to minimise patient risk and ensure high quality patient care.
- Ensure that the immediate work area (cubicles, trolleys etc) are cleaned, disinfected and re-stocked regularly, and that the required cleaning standards are maintained at all times to prevent infection and maintain patients confidence.
- The post holder is required to familiarise him/herself with and comply with the Trusts policies and procedures
- The post holder must at all times respect patient confidentiality and in particular the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act (1998), the Caldicott principles and the common law duty of confidentiality.
- The post holder must follow the record keeping guidelines established by the Trust to ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
- The post holder must be aware of individual responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act and identify and report as necessary any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment
- When moving people and goods, the post holder must complete the relevant training as appropriate to the action, e.g. use of hoists.
- Assist with the obtaining, maintenance, cleaning, and storage of equipment.
- Report all faults and ensure that these are logged, reported, recorded and actioned as appropriate.
- Understand and adhere to Trust policy in relation to:
- Fire and evacuation procedures
- Health and Safety at work
- Complaints procedure
- Control of infection
- Maintenance of patient confidentiality
- Resuscitation
- Equal opportunities
- Data protection
Quality
- The post holder is expected to collect blood samples from all patients in any clinical as requested by an authorised manager, by means of venepuncture, skin puncture or other authorised methods, using the method most appropriate to the individual patients needs and requirements.
- The post holder is expected to ensure that the required identification details are checked on every patient before the phlebotomy procedure is performed.
- The post holder is expected to collect blood samples for a wide variety of tests, the correct volume of which must be collected into the appropriate blood specimen tubes.
- Blood sample tubes must be labelled with the details of the relevant patient. Sample tubes should be labelled manually with all the required information at the bedside and in the presence of the patient, or a sticky label must be applied if available.
- The post holder is legally required to legibly and accurately label all blood transfusion sample tubes manually.
- The post holder is expected to maintain the quality of blood samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols.
- The post holder is expected to participate in research, audit, and quality initiatives.
- The post holder is expected to handle and process blood samples in a way that:
- is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency;
- maintains the required quality and integrity;
- ensures that the samples are matched with the relevant forms and/or other documentation;
- is appropriate to the nature and stage of a patients treatment;
- is appropriate to the nature and condition of the sample.
- The post holder is required to contribute to continuous quality and service improvement
Job description
Job responsibilities
MAIN DUTIES
Communication
- Ensure effective communication with all staff, patients and relatives, maintaining confidentiality at all times.
- To work closely with medical, nursing, laboratory, and phlebotomy staff to provide a rapid blood collection service, which is sensitive to service requirements at the CDC and affiiated sites.
- Ensure effective and sensitive communication with patients, using tact, reassurance and persuasive skills when needed in gaining trust and acceptance from patients prior to proceeding with the phlebotomy procedure.
- Ensure that all relevant information is relayed to clinical, nursing or laboratory staff in a timely manner.
- Demonstrate customer care skills when listening to concerns, dealing courteously with visitors, staff or patients and when using the telephone.
- Use information and computing technology skills to access information about the Trust.
Patient Care
- Co-operate with clinical, administrative, and managerial colleagues to understand their roles within the team and appreciate patient priorities.
- Deliver care to all patients regardless of their values, customs, gender, race, culture, religion or preferences.
- Deliver care that always upholds patients privacy and dignity.
- Report any clinical concerns or abnormalities to a registered professional.
- Check that relevant equipment is available and in working order, reporting any defects to the relevant staff.
- Receive, check and unpack deliveries to the unit and report on stock levels.
Personal and People Development
- The post holder is expected to take responsibility for self-development on a continuous basis, undertaking on-the-job and other training as required.
- Participate in the Trust Mandatory Training Programme.
- Participate in in-service training as appropriate.
- Act as role model to other phlebotomy staff.
- Assist with the supervision of junior learners.
- Actively participate in appraisal and staff annual review.
Health, Safety and Security
- Undertake appropriate training and practice to ensure you (and your teams) have the right skills and are competent.
- To adhere to Trust policy and infection control principles and standards to minimise patient risk and ensure high quality patient care.
- Ensure that the immediate work area (cubicles, trolleys etc) are cleaned, disinfected and re-stocked regularly, and that the required cleaning standards are maintained at all times to prevent infection and maintain patients confidence.
- The post holder is required to familiarise him/herself with and comply with the Trusts policies and procedures
- The post holder must at all times respect patient confidentiality and in particular the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act (1998), the Caldicott principles and the common law duty of confidentiality.
- The post holder must follow the record keeping guidelines established by the Trust to ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
- The post holder must be aware of individual responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act and identify and report as necessary any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment
- When moving people and goods, the post holder must complete the relevant training as appropriate to the action, e.g. use of hoists.
- Assist with the obtaining, maintenance, cleaning, and storage of equipment.
- Report all faults and ensure that these are logged, reported, recorded and actioned as appropriate.
- Understand and adhere to Trust policy in relation to:
- Fire and evacuation procedures
- Health and Safety at work
- Complaints procedure
- Control of infection
- Maintenance of patient confidentiality
- Resuscitation
- Equal opportunities
- Data protection
Quality
- The post holder is expected to collect blood samples from all patients in any clinical as requested by an authorised manager, by means of venepuncture, skin puncture or other authorised methods, using the method most appropriate to the individual patients needs and requirements.
- The post holder is expected to ensure that the required identification details are checked on every patient before the phlebotomy procedure is performed.
- The post holder is expected to collect blood samples for a wide variety of tests, the correct volume of which must be collected into the appropriate blood specimen tubes.
- Blood sample tubes must be labelled with the details of the relevant patient. Sample tubes should be labelled manually with all the required information at the bedside and in the presence of the patient, or a sticky label must be applied if available.
- The post holder is legally required to legibly and accurately label all blood transfusion sample tubes manually.
- The post holder is expected to maintain the quality of blood samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols.
- The post holder is expected to participate in research, audit, and quality initiatives.
- The post holder is expected to handle and process blood samples in a way that:
- is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency;
- maintains the required quality and integrity;
- ensures that the samples are matched with the relevant forms and/or other documentation;
- is appropriate to the nature and stage of a patients treatment;
- is appropriate to the nature and condition of the sample.
- The post holder is required to contribute to continuous quality and service improvement
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Previous phlebotomy experience
- Experience of working with the public and demonstrating strong customer care skills
Desirable
- Significant experience as a Phlebotomist
Skills
Essential
- Clear verbal communication
- Able to organise own workload
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSE in maths and English language or minimum of Key Skills Level 2 in literacy and numeracy, or equivalent qualifications
- Awareness of the physical, psychological, cultural and social needs of patients
Desirable
- U.K. recognised Phlebotomy certificate of competence
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Able to use initiative
- Can work well with other people, even where there may be differences of opinion
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Previous phlebotomy experience
- Experience of working with the public and demonstrating strong customer care skills
Desirable
- Significant experience as a Phlebotomist
Skills
Essential
- Clear verbal communication
- Able to organise own workload
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSE in maths and English language or minimum of Key Skills Level 2 in literacy and numeracy, or equivalent qualifications
- Awareness of the physical, psychological, cultural and social needs of patients
Desirable
- U.K. recognised Phlebotomy certificate of competence
Personal Qualities
Essential
- Able to use initiative
- Can work well with other people, even where there may be differences of opinion
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.
