Associate Practitioner Microbiology

An Associate Practitioner works as part of the technical team, supervised by experienced Biomedical Scientists and managed by the Laboratory Team Leaders and Operational Head of Department. Once trained an associate practitioner is required to assist the Biomedical Scientists to supervise and train the lower grade Biomedical Assistant staff. The post holder will be required to work on sites as appropriate for the delivery of the service and may be asked to work across sites within the trust. The post holder will be required to support a 24/7 service and shift patterns will cover all hours as required. Staff will work as part of a team of Associate Practitioners and will be rostered unsociable shifts as part of that team. Works as part of a large team which consists of a mixture of Biomedical Scientists, Associate Practitioners and Biomedical Assistants.Main duties of the job To participate in the provision of a comprehensive range of scientific and diagnostic services for bacteriology. The diagnostic work of the bacteriology department includes the appropriate processing and handling of body fluids and materials including high risk specimens. The post holder will liaise with line manager as part of a team delivering high quality protocol based technical service under the supervision of HCPC Registered Biomedical Scientist staff. The post holder will be required to communicate with hospital clinicians, general practitioners, other healthcare professionals, patients and their representatives and commercial suppliers. The post holder will be required to operate sophisticated, automated laboratory equipment and perform scientific techniques under supervision and to report results in accordance with departmental SOPs and as appropriate to grade. The post holder is required to act as supervisor for support grade staff members as agreed with the laboratory management team, and will be expected to train, support and advise less experienced staff, such as trainees, students and MLA's. The post holder will be required to manage laboratory stock within the department and provide details of stock management to the Lead BMS or General Manager as required.,

• Be able to effectively deal with simple day to day situations and problems, referring to Senior Biomedical Scientist staff when appropriate
• Ensures sample is appropriate type for all tests and assesses samples for urgency, informing Biomedical Scientist staff of such samples
• Performs telephone duties that include making and receiving calls from and to the laboratory, verbally transmitting confidential results and conveying sensitive information and advice to healthcare professionals
• Communicates effectively with other staff groups both internal and external, including healthcare professionals, transport and courier staff, patients and their representatives and commercial suppliers
• Provides supervision, training support and assistance to newly staff as appropriate (including the demonstration of procedures to less experienced staff)
• Participate in a range of duties within the department, under supervision or without supervision following successful competency assessment
• Carry out biomedical procedures including maintenance, monitoring of sophisticated equipment and audit in accordance with departmental SOPs
• Decontamination of laboratory working areas and equipment according to SOPs. Maintain a tidy and clean workplace, according to H&S regulations and good laboratory practice
• Displays and maintains an appropriate level of IT skills. Is able to input patient and request data, maintain and amend patient records, interrogate the laboratory and hospital databases and perform basic word processing and spreadsheet work, The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment. Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.
The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24. Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £23 (standard disclosure) or £43 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment. Bank posts require upfront payment. DBS applications submitted from 2nd December will be subject to the new DBS fee of £26.50 (standard) and £54.50 (Enhanced). From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years. Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa. This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults' policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures. Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation. All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action. As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.


• HNC/equivalent qualification or equivalent level of knowledge & experience, Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work unsupervised, organising and prioritising own workload.
• Dexterous, with excellent aseptic technique and the ability to manipulate fine pipettes and other precision equipment
• Ability to concentrate for long periods whilst maintaining consistent performance
• Ability to follow written and verbal instructions
• Ability to act on own initiative.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
• I.T. skills
  
  Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients. UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond. For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West. Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.