Point of Care Specialist Biomedical Scientist

Job summary

We require an experienced, suitably qualified Specialist Biomedical Scientist to join the Point of Care Testing (POCT) Department within the Black Country Pathology Service. An enthusiastic, well-motivated individual with good interpersonal and organisational skills is required.

The successful candidate will be expected to travel and work across the four partner Trust sites and any outlying sites.

The role will involve supporting the Point of Care Testing service throughout the Black Country Pathology Service Partner Trust sites and the wider community.

The POCT Department monitors and maintains a variety of instrumentation including glucose meters and blood gas analysers.

It is essential that you hold a full driving license.

Please only apply for the position if you have completed and passed the IBMS Specialist diploma or the equivalent CPSM log book.

This role is advertised as a Band 6 however the right candidate who is completing their specialist portfolio and has significant demonstrable experience of working as a Biomedical Scientist (AfC B5) will be considered, you will remain on AfC B5 until the completion of the specialist portfolio.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will act as a deputy for the POCT manager and will assist with:-

Procurement and implementation of POCT equipment.

Training of POCT staff and end users of POCT equipment

Monitoring the performance of POCT equipment and end users using internal and external quality controls and audits

Troubleshooting POCT equipment and any associated connectivity software

Supervision of POCT officers (band 3 and 4)

Production and review of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and policies

Supporting clinical trials research and development functions by writing SOPs; ensuring the correct handling and storage of trial research samples and maintaining trial documentation

Ensuring the department meets the requirements of relevant standards such as MHRA and ISO

About us

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the West Midlands providing primary, acute and community services and we are incredibly proud of the diversity of both our staff and the communities we serve. We are building a workforce that can help us to fulfil our values, improve quality of care for patients, and solve the health care problems of tomorrow. We're passionate about the value that diversity of thinking and lived experience brings in enabling us to become a learning organisation and leader in delivering compassionate care for our are delighted that we have been rated as "Good" by CQC. We have achieved numerous awards; The Nursing Times Best Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff in Trust is a supportive working environment committed to creating flexible working arrangements that suit your needs and as such will consider all requests from applicants who wish to work flexibly.

Job description

Job responsibilities

To perform the role of the Point of Care Testing BMS within the POCT Department.

To assist the POCT Manager in planning, coordinating and organising the overall workload to ensure completion of work and that the POCT service is supported during normal working hours.

To deputise for the POCT Manager including attending meetings and liaising with users of the service.

To supervise lower grade staff within the department when the POCT manager is not available including allocation of daily work.

To plan own daily activities within the POCT Department, dependent on the daily status of the POCT equipment and needs of the clinical users.

To assist the POCT Manager in the procurement and implementation (including change control processes, validation and training) of new POCT equipment.

To assist in planning, monitoring and providing training to staff (such as laboratory staff, POCT staff and end users) on the use of POCT equipment and any associated software.

To assist in monitoring the performance of POCT equipment using Internal Quality Control (IQC) including performance of IQC, trending of IQC and identification of IQC failures and reasons for poor performance.

To assist in the administration of POCT External Quality Assurance (EQA) schemes.

To perform quality audits (such as horizontal, vertical and examination audits) to ensure policies and procedures are being followed and produce audit reports outlining non-conformances.

To assist in root cause analysis of any non-conformances and rectifying the non-conformances.

To configure, install, use, maintain and troubleshoot POCT equipment and any associated software (such as Cobas IT1000).

To decide on the course of action to be taken when equipment failures occur. The post holder will provide advice, support and training to users of the equipment who are less experienced. This will include liaising with POCT equipment suppliers and end users of the equipment.

To ensure that there is an accurate record of equipment downtime and to ensure that credit notes or refunds are obtained for any faulty consumables.

To use a variety of POCT software to:-

manage POCT equipment and users monitor and trend equipment issues monitor and trend end user compliance with policies and procedures.

To assist in ensuring that on a daily basis the POCT interfaces are working and results are being transferred into the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from the POCT equipment.

To perform regular audits to ensure the correct results are being transferred into the correct patient files.

To be responsible for the maintenance of IT systems such as POCT interfaces and connectivity software and produce regular reports using this software.

To use POCT software to review and validate POCT results ensuring results are suitable for release into the LIMS. To use POCT software to resend results to the LIMS.

To ensure faulty equipment is returned to the manufacturer when necessary following set protocols.

To assist in the monitoring, ordering and storage of POCT consumables.

To ensure stock levels of POCT consumables on the wards are sufficient and keep accurate levels of what stock has been delivered to each location so that accurate cross charging for consumables can occur.

To analyse quality control samples and patient samples on POCT equipment when required. The post holder will be required to perform tests using the equipment to ensure that it is working correctly and for validation purposes.

To reconstitute quality control material which requires accuracy to ensure the quality control material is made up using the correct volumes and material at the correct times to give accurate results.

To answer telephone enquiries regarding POCT equipment and communicate professionally with clinical users and liaise with other health professionals and POCT equipment suppliers.

To carry out the safe, accurate and precise handling of POCT equipment, reagents and samples. The use of the POCT equipment requires good hand eye co-ordination. Pipettes are used to aliquot small sample volumes and the post holder must ensure that the correct amount of sample is applied to the correct location at the correct time to ensure an accurate result is produced.

To contribute to the production, review and update of SOPs.

To utilise QPulse for such as document management; auditing and other purposes.

To assist in ensuring the POCT department is compliant with the requirements of ISO; MHRA; and other relevant standards.

To assist in ensuring that training and competency assessments for all POCT equipment users are recorded and stored according to departmental procedures.

To learn and maintain knowledge of POCT devices ensuring capability to provide advice to service users.

Where requested to, ensure guidelines issued by such as MHRA, NICE, ISO, HTA are complied with. To assess the logistical implications of new standards and guidance and work with POCT Manager in order to provide the required level of service.

To assist in dealing with product alerts and recalls.

To assist in risk assessments, report incidents, accidents and adverse events.

To provide laboratory support for clinical trials.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science or equivalent State registration as a Biomedical Scientist with Health Professions Council IBMS Specialist Diploma or equivalent CPSM log book

Skills

Essential

Laboratory experience as a specialist BMS Experience of working as part of a team Experience of Point of Care Testing Experience of performing audits Experience of writing and reviewing standard operating procedures Experience of supervising staff Experience of face to face training of staff

Flexibility

Essential

Ability to work hours flexibly Willingness to work across all sites

Other

Essential

Driving Licence

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