Associate Practitioner

Job responsibilities

Communication

Communicate in a manner that is consistent with legislation policies and procedures.

Communicate effectively with all members of the Pathology staff, clinicians and visitors to the department.

Improve communication by the use of communication skills.

Be aware of possible barriers to communication and how to overcome them.

Deal sensitively with patient/ clinician enquiries in stressful situations.

Ensure confidentiality of all written verbal and electronic information.

Keep accurate and complete records in line with legislation, policies and procedures.

Provide approved departmental information and advice to other healthcare professionals, patients and the public, referring on appropriate specialist request for information outside their area of responsibility.

Be able to use all relevant forms of communication.

Attend and participate in departmental meetings.

Personal and People Development

Take responsibility for own personal development and take an active part in learning opportunities.

A portfolio must be maintained to demonstrate:-

How the post holder is applying skills and knowledge in relation to their KSF outline.

To record that the post holder is keeping up to date with current scientific and technical developments including participation in scientific meetings as appropriate.

Be required to have achieved the appropriate qualification, e.g Foundation Degree in Healthcare Science.

Be required to assist in the training and development of Biomedical Support Workers, in the procedures for which the post holder is responsible.

Attend all Mandatory and role specific training.

Health Safety and Security

Comply with the policies and procedures of Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust.

Observe and adhere to local and national risk management and Health and safety policies.

Safely handle potentially infectious blood, faeces, other body tissue and hazardous chemicals on a daily basis.

Keep the workbenches clean and tidy.

Service Improvement

Maintain a flexible approach to the post in order to rapidly assimilate changes in workload, patterns and requirements.

Alert their line manager when users of the service are adversely affected.

Participate in audit and other service evaluation when required.

Comment on any proposed changes to own work area when required.

Quality

Comply with good work practices in accordance with the standards of UKAS and the Health Protection Agency.

Measure and monitor the accuracy and imprecision of laboratory investigations using appropriate quality control procedures.

Undertake appropriate validation as directed by Senior BMS.

Be able to cope with unpredictable workload and maintain quality.

Recognise and then take corrective action when quality control or assurance procedures indicate loss of performance of the laboratory instruments or methods reporting any out of consensus results to registered BMS staff.

Monitor performance of biomedical support workers if required

Equality & Diversity

Treat everyone associated with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust with dignity, courtesy and respect.

Be aware of and act in accordance with legislation and policies.

Recognise and report behaviour that undermines equality and diversity.

Biomedical Investigation

Be able to interpret and follow standard operating procedures.

Perform biomedical investigations to the point of technical validation as specified by the Senior BMS including:-

Automated techniques

Semi automated techniques

Manual techniques

Be responsible for stock control of reagents and other consumables.

Be responsible for resolving outstanding work lists.

Be responsible retrieving retrospective specimens.

Check and confirm the identify and quality of specimens/samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols including the checking of anomalous or abnormal results.

Handle and deal with specimens/samples in a way which:-

is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency.

maintains the required quality and integrity.

maintains their unique identification and their links to relevant records/documentation.

is appropriate to the nature and stage of the investigation.

Assess the process and outcomes of investigations using the correct quality control criteria referring anomalous results to the biomedical scientist staff.

Store and prepare and use reagents according to manufacturers instructions.

Participate in the introduction of new methods in the laboratory.

Refer to biomedical scientist staff in the case of incidents which put health and safety or the quality of specimens at risk.

Comply with legislation, policies and procedures.

Equipment

Responsible for monitoring and performing daily, weekly and monthly maintenance of laboratory equipment, ensuring that logs are completed.

Check the safety and functioning of all equipment.

Perform simple troubleshooting and report malfunctions to BMS staff.

Participate in the introduction of new equipment or methods to the department.

Contribute to method and laboratory instrument evaluation as directed.

Assist in the resolution of equipment or method failures, which may include dismantling instruments to carry out simple repairs.

Be able to use the sample tracking systems and store samples appropriately.

Information Collection & analysis

Comply with local and national policies for the safe, secure and confidential processing, and storage of patient and other laboratory information.

Use the Laboratory and appropriate Trust Information System according to the authorised protocols.

Enter patient demographics and technical laboratory data onto the Laboratory Information System.

Collect and collate data/information effectively and to time, using set systems and consistent with legislation, policies and procedures.

Be able to monitor the temperature monitoring system and act appropriately on temperature excursions.

Stock control of reagents and other consumables.

Confirm that the data/information meets pre-set quality criteria.

Maintain the integrity of data/information using agreed procedures.

Report the data/information clearly in the required format at the time agreed.

People Management

Plan and prioritise own work to meet deadlines.

Supervise and allocate work to Biomedical Support Workers.

Report poor performance to Biomedical Scientist staff

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Minimum of Foundation degree in Healthcare Science or equivalent e.g. IBMS Certificate of Competence level 1.
• GSCE's in Mathematics and English.

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Working experience in the relevant NHS Pathology discipline.
• Working on analytical platforms.
• Understanding of quality indices.

Desirable

• Experience of co-ordinating day to day laboratory activities.
• Experience of listed current platforms in use.

Skills

Essential

• Oral & written communication skills.
• Ability to transmit information to other healthcare professionals.
• Effective interpersonal skills.
• Analytical skills.
• Able to perform routine analytical techniques.
• Maintenance and troubleshooting on analytical equipment.
• Perform and interpret IQC, including reports and interpret within scope of practice.
• Planning & organisational skills.
• Prioritise own workload that will include a number of ongoing tasks.
• Work with minimum supervision and organise the workload of others.
• Basic IT skills to include use of Microsoft Office package.

Desirable

• Experience of current Laboratory IT system.

Key Competencies, Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Team worker.
• Confident.
• Takes responsibility for own development.
• Positive attitude.
• Flexible.
• Adaptable to change.
• Attention to detail.
• Problem solving.
• Some physical effort required.
• Moving reagents.
• Inputting data.
• Able to multitask.
• Able to manage an unpredictable workload with changing priorities.
• Need to be able to concentrate for considerable periods when performing tests or validating test results.
• Indirect exposure to emotional situations.
• Could be exposed to stress situations particularly when working alone.
• On a daily basis need to be able deal with biological fluids and human tissues.
• Handle chemicals.
• Required to work out-of-hours as part of 24 hour 7 day service provision.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).