Associate Healthcare Scientist: Point of Care Testing (Thanet CDC)

Job summary

Point of Care Testing (PoCT) in East Kent is expanding and this is an exciting opportunity to join our dynamic Point of Care Testing team. We are recruiting a part-time 18.75 hpw Band 4 position to enhance and support the existing team at QEQM Hospital in Margate. Whilst this role is based at the QEQM hospital there will be requirement to rotate and travel across the 3 acute sites in East Kent (EKHUFT), and to Estuary View Urgent Treatment Centre, and to the new Thanet Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Broadstairs.

PoCT testing devices are used to produce rapid clinical results that enable clinical staff to make immediate treatment decisions for our patients. The post holder will contribute to the quality of these clinical decisions by supporting the existing PoCT team to deliver advice, training and perform quality tasks to ensure the quality of the results produced. The POCT service is working towards accreditation to ISO15189. In addition the department is actively engaging with community settings to provide the above services to locations outside of the Trust such as Virtual Wards provided by community trusts and CDCs.

The role would also suit existing health professionals working in ward or theatre environments.

Full training will be provided in the use and management of our PoCT device portfolio and the associated IT solutions.

The PoCT department is linked to our ISO accredited laboratories and is embedded within the Pathology quality management system.

Main duties of the job

The purpose of the job is to support the PoCT Coordinator and Biomedical scientists in the provision of a proactive, professional and quality governance framework to ensure patient safety in respect of PoCT activity. This will include but is not limited to device maintenance and troubleshooting, device evaluations, documentation, performance of internal quality control, administration of external quality assessment programmes, training and audit.

Kent and Medway Pathology Network (KMPN) is a formal partnership of seven sites across three pathology services in four acute Trusts. Our 1,000 colleagues provide services across the health and care sector to a population of nearly 2 million.

About us

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference'. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

KMPN are at an exciting point of our network development with a recommendation to form a joint venture across the four Trusts leading transformation. Our projects include single IT solutions, procurement and digital projects, to ensure our services are able to meet growing demand for our service users, patients and communities.

You will have a fantastic opportunity to grow your career in KMPN. We are developing a network academy, a platform for all network education and training from apprenticeships to advanced clinical and scientific qualifications with a single faculty making best use of our talented educators and trainers. You will not be expected to work at sites outside of EKHUFT. However, there will be opportunities for collaborative working within the network.