Medical Laboratory Assistant

Medical Laboratory Assistant - Band 3

**Contract**: Permanent
Full-Time -37.5 hours per week

Our busy and friendly welcoming team in blood sciences reception/Pathology Department is looking for an enthusiastic and reliable person to join our team of laboratory staff, who examine specimens sent to us by the hospital doctors, local GPs and clinics.

We are a small dedicated team working within Whittington Health that delivers not just routine diagnostic support to the Hospital and local community.

Hours are 37.5 per week and participation in shift working is required.

The duties are varied and include a mixture of sample reception, laboratory work, keyboard entry of data into our computer and preparation of laboratory materials. You may be required to be available to work in other departments within Pathology in addition to blood sciences reception, as directed by the Laboratory managers.

Keyboard experience is essential, as are qualifications to GCSE level including English and mathematics, and you need to be of a practical nature. You must be well organised and capable of working accurately. Whilst not essential, previous laboratory experience would be an advantage. Full training will be given to the successful applicant.

Medical services have been delivered on the Whittington Hospital site for over 500 years. On 1st April 2011, Whittington Health was launched as a new Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) comprising The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, NHS Islington and NHS Haringey. The Whittington and the community health services in Islington and Haringey are award winning organisations, delivering acute and community based health services to a population of 443,000 people.

The organisation is the biggest employer in the area, with over 4,500 staff; delivering healthcare not only on the acute hospital site which has 420 beds, but also from a variety of other community based health centres and through visits to patients homes across the boroughs to address the health needs of the local population. Whittington Health also works with other health, social care and voluntary sector partners to support patients and service users from their initial appointment whether it be with a community health team or at the hospital, all the way through to treatment and tailored after care.

We are one of the three main teaching campuses for the Royal Free and University College Medical School.

Our ICARE (Innovation, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence) Values not only help us shape what we do, but also how we do it and why. They are fundamental to the way we do business and care for our patients.

MAIN DUTIES

To work in the laboratory and offices, receiving, sorting and labelling samples and entering requests for laboratory investigations onto the pathology computer system.
1. To answer result and general, telephone enquiries.
2. Validation of sample and patient demographic data.
3. Data input of results and information from outside sources.
4. To assist with routine tasks in the laboratory this will vary depending on the department, but will include tasks such as plating samples and processing samples, loading and unloading instruments, tracking samples, stocking consumables, staining slides, disposing of samples. This list is not exhaustive, but gives an indication of duties that would be expected to be undertaken by an experienced MLA.
5. To keep all laboratory benches, storage areas, refrigerators and freezers clean and tidy.
6. Responsible for temperature monitoring of the refrigerators and freezers within the department.
7. Printing, sorting and despatching completed reports.
8. To perform start up and routine maintenance on laboratory and point of care instrumentation.
9. Routine cleaning and quality control checks as applicable.
10. To assist with the training of new starters, work placements and trainee phlebotomists as applicable.
11. If applicable, to work in the Blood Transfusion department, doing data entry for requests, retrieving blood from satellite fridges, checking blood fridge charts and reporting any discrepancies to the senior staff.
12. If applicable, to bleed patients, either in-patients, out-patients or in outreach clinics as and when required, by venepuncture or finger-prick, as appropriate.
13. If applicable, to train other healthcare practitioners in the skill of phlebotomy when the phlebotomy trainer is not available.
14. To be proactive in supporting the laboratories’ health and safety measures.
15. To undertake all mandatory and statutory training requirements associated with the role and any other training required in order to able to carry out daily duties, and comply with the Trust’s training requirements.
16. To participate in appraisal and staff annual review.
17. Any other duties commensurate with grade.

This job profile is intended to provide an outline of the duties and responsibilities of this post and may change from time to time by agreement of the Directo