Histology Biomedical Scientist

Job summary

Maidstone Hospital, situated in the heart of the Kent countryside, covers a large population and includes the regional Oncology centre which is expanding in support of the Kent cancer network.The Histology department provides services for Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trusts, Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust. Consequently there is a combined Histology workload of around 70,000 cases per year. The department carries out a wide range of investigations including various specialist resections from hospitals within the Kent & Medway. It also includes an expanding immunocytochemistry section that has an annual through-put of approximately 51,000 tests.

The department moved to a custom built new facility in May 2011. It is computerised and well equipped. Career development and participation in CPD are actively encouraged.

Applications are invited from HCPC registered Biomedical Scientists. This post would suit an enthusiastic and self-motivated person with good interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team. Good hand eye coordination and attention to detail are essential requirements.

Candidates without HCPC registration will also be considered for a trainee BMS position provided they possess a degree in Biomedical Sciences validated as acceptable for HCPC registration by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. Histology laboratory experience is essential.

Main duties of the job

Kent and Medway Pathology Network

Working for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust you will be part of the Kent and Medway Pathology Network (South 8 network). Kent and Medway Pathology Network is made up of seven laboratories across three pathology services in four acute Trusts - East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and North Kent Pathology Services (hosted by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and providing services to Medway Foundation Trust).

The network provides services across the health sector to a population of nearly 2 million.

The network vision is based around:

• A single laboratory information management system (LIMS) and managed services contract (MSC);
• A Director of Pathology Transformation who will work closely with teams and services to design and implement service changes which benefit the whole network;
• A commitment to consider a single management structure at a point in the future; and,
• A general agreement to collaborate, and to align processes and Standard Operating Procedures where it makes sense to do so.

You will not be expected to work at sites outside of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. However, there will be opportunities for collaborative working within this network.

About us

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust in the county of Kent.

The Trust provides a full range of general hospital services and some areas of specialist complex care to around 760,000 people living in the south part of West Kent and the north part of East Sussex.

The Trust's core catchment areas are Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells and their surrounding boroughs. We work from two main clinical sites: Maidstone Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury. Tunbridge Wells Hospital opened in 2011 and provides single rooms with en-suites for all in-patients - the first of its kind in the country.

We employ more than 7,000 full and part-time staff in a huge range of clinical and non-clinical roles across both of our hospital sites.