The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Specialist Biomedical Scientist - Histology

Information:

This job is now closed

Job summary

The Cellular Pathology department at Princess Alexandra Hospital is looking to appoint a Specialist Biomedical Scientist. You will work within a dynamic team of 15 qualified staff supported by 12 Medical Laboratory Assistants and Associate Practitioners.

Cellular Pathology is divided into areas for which all staff are rotated on a weekly basis. Training is provided and competencies for all areas are assessed before any work is carried out unsupervised. All areas are divided into qualified and unqualified tasks.

Histology is divided into:

  • Specimen Reception, Dissection, Processing and Embedding
  • Microtomy (staining and QC)
  • Special stains and exports
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • HER2 Breast FISH
  • Cytology is divided into:
  • Non-gynae preparation
  • Non-gynae QC and reporting

Areas of interest and specialisms are encouraged, and development tailored accordingly.

The laboratory holds an HTA license, is ISO15189:2012 accredited and holds training status for both pre and post-registration portfolios.

Main duties of the job

  • Receipt and booking in of all specimen types.
  • Recognising and trouble shooting any labelling errors.
  • Specimen dissection for an extended range of specimens.
  • Specimen processing and embedding.
  • Specimen microtomy of a range of tissue types.
  • Staining and quality control of sections including routine and special stains.
  • Performing frozen sections under intra-operative conditions.
  • Performing immunohistochemistry using automated stainers, diluting of antibodies and making up reagents. Carrying out quality control and maintaining control stocks.
  • Taking part in external quality assurance schemes.
  • Ensuring maintenance of the Quality Management System using Qpulse.
  • Preparing a range of specimens in non-gynae and observing all Health and safety rules and regulations.
  • Allocating of specimens to Consultants for reporting using the Royal College reporting points system.

About us

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) provides a full range of general acute, outpatient and diagnostic services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the Herts and Essex Hospital in Bishop's Stortford, and St Margaret's Hospital in Epping.

We employ 3,500 staff and serve a local population of around 350,000 people living in west Essex and east Hertfordshire, centred on the M11 corridor and the towns of Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Epping. Our extended catchment area incorporates a population of up to 500,000 and includes the areas of Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.

Our Values

The Princess Alexandra Promise to our patients as identified by our 3 values which will contribute to improving our patient experiences:

Patient at heart- Always holding the patient and their wellbeing at the centre of our thoughts and efforts

Everyday excellence- Sharing and celebrating our successes, being honest when we get it wrong, giving us the ability to learn from both

Creative collaboration- Knowing strength comes from diversity, we combine our experiences, skills and talents, working together to find new and better ways to care

The Trust believes in investing in all our staff and rewarding high standards of care whilst building for excellence and in return we expect our staff to uphold the Trust values to the highest level.

Details

Date posted

01 February 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£35,392 to £42,503 a year per annum inclusive of high cost area supplement

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

292-6001838-CSS

Job locations

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

CM20 1RG


Job description

Job responsibilities

For further details, please refer to the attached job description and person specification, available to download at any time.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For further details, please refer to the attached job description and person specification, available to download at any time.

Person Specification

Experience post registration, discipline specific

Essential

  • Time spent in discipline specific laboratory - histology / cytology
  • Specialist portfolio in progress

Desirable

  • Specialist portfolio complete
  • Experience working beyond band 5 role

specialist knowledge

Desirable

  • Molecular knowledge or experience eg FISH
  • IHC experience
  • Dissection experience (extended specimen range)
  • Cytology preparation experience
  • Cytology reporting experience

Key skills

Essential

  • Microtomy and embedding of all specimen types
  • Tissue and stain recognition

Desirable

  • Awareness of Non gynae stains
Person Specification

Experience post registration, discipline specific

Essential

  • Time spent in discipline specific laboratory - histology / cytology
  • Specialist portfolio in progress

Desirable

  • Specialist portfolio complete
  • Experience working beyond band 5 role

specialist knowledge

Desirable

  • Molecular knowledge or experience eg FISH
  • IHC experience
  • Dissection experience (extended specimen range)
  • Cytology preparation experience
  • Cytology reporting experience

Key skills

Essential

  • Microtomy and embedding of all specimen types
  • Tissue and stain recognition

Desirable

  • Awareness of Non gynae stains

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

CM20 1RG


Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

CM20 1RG


Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lab Manager

Lisa Greenhalgh

lisa.greenhalgh@nhs.net

01279827096

Details

Date posted

01 February 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 6

Salary

£35,392 to £42,503 a year per annum inclusive of high cost area supplement

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

292-6001838-CSS

Job locations

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

CM20 1RG


Supporting documents

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