Ssd Assistant Technical Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Decontamination Technical Officer to join our team at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

We are looking for a flexible motivated individual to join our busy decontamination unit.

The post holder will be required to work as a team member of the Sterile Services Department carrying out duties related to decontaminating surgical instruments.

The position is 37.5 hours per week, working a shift pattern from 07:00-21:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 -16:00 Saturday, 08:00-12:00 Sunday.

During the training period there will be a dedicated training mentor always assigned to the successful applicant. When fully competent in all aspects of duties and responsibilities, the post holder will be required to have a flexible approach.

Duties of this role will include operating decontamination equipment, pushing and pulling trolleys, stock control, lifting heavy theatre trays and reprocessing reusable medical devices. Will involve handling bodily fluids and requires the wearing of personal protective equipment.

You will need good communication and interpersonal skills, excellent attention to detail, excellent customer services attributes, good numeracy and literacy skills and good retentive memory.

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) provides good quality, safe and effective healthcare to the people of Cheshire and beyond.

The Trust, which manages Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford, was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991 and became a Foundation Trust in April 2008.

We employ almost 5,000 members of staff, provide around 540 hospital beds, with a range of services including accident and emergency, maternity, outpatients, therapies, and children's health.

The Trust is also part of Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership (CCICP), a unique local health partnership that provides a range of community services for people across South Cheshire and Vale Royal.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Trust was recognised nationally for its ‘Be Safe Be EquiPPEd’ campaign, which aimed to make the Trust as safe as possible for staff and patients, through supporting the correct use of PPE.

The results in the 2020 national NHS Staff Survey showed improvements in all elements of the safety culture theme, with 92% of respondents feeling their role made a difference to our patients. We were also recognised nationally for our workforce health and wellbeing initiatives.

At Mid Cheshire, we value our staff and appreciate that in order to give our patients the best quality, compassionate care, we also need to look after our colleagues.

Processing of Surgical Instrumentation Sets and Supplementary Packs to specification using Standard Operating Procedures, which meet the Quality Standard ISO 13485.

To receive, record and check all instrumentation and equipment used within the Trust, Community, and outside contracts, scanning all items into the department, identify any missing/damaged equipment and report immediately to a Team Leader or Supervisor.

To dismantle instrumentation and equipment, transferring into washer baskets, scan and load into washer disinfectors.

Inspect and function test all instrumentation, and reassemble onto trays to checklist specification, scan, document, and pack ready for transferring to autoclaves for sterilising.

To operate all major equipment within the department, washer/ disinfectors, transfer hatch, and sterilizers, using QSP’s to ensure correct Disinfection and Sterilisation according to HTM 01-01.

To sterilise, check for integrity of packaging, and inspect all items removed from the autoclaves, and authorise all equipment for release as ‘fit for purpose’, and to despatch using the Tracking System.

Loads or items that do not meet requirements must be failed and non-conformed to the relevant area.

To undertake porter duties, delivery of equipment being processed as instructed.

To be flexible within the department and to take on board any training necessary to work in any area as necessary, guided by our Quality Management System.

To take on board training necessary to attain / maintain competency, including all Trust Mandatory Training