Medical Laboratory Assistant - Entry Level

The role involves supporting scientific staff in the receipt, analytical preparation, labelling and data entry of patient samples & requests, maintenance and quality control of Point of Care Testing equipment and general laboratory support duties. The role requires a calm, organised approach with attention to detail and good keyboard skills.
Previous experience in an NHS clinical laboratory would be an advantage but not essential as full training will be provided.
The Blood Science department operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the successful candidate will be expected to support and participate in late shift rosters .
The main Pathology services are located at North Tyneside Hospital, Wansbeck Hospital and the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. There is also a smaller Specimen reception and Point of care testing based at Hexham Hospital. You may be expected to work at any of the sites as required for service provision therefore a full driving license and access to a vehicle is essential

Working for our organisation
We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to our state-of-the-art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres. We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us. We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England., + Perform basic sample reception and process duties including the receipt, barcode labelling and preparation of samples for analysis, loading of samples onto analysers or other laboratory equipment and sample archiving.
+ Perform clerical tasks including data input of patient demographics and test request information and maintains clerical records.
+ Perform general housekeeping duties including maintaining stock levels, general cleaning and waste disposal.
+ Maintain and promote professional image.
+ The work of the service brings staff into constant contact with human body fluids, tissues and hazardous chemicals. This may be blood, urine, fluid and faeces.
+ The post holder may be required to work at NTGH/NSECH/WGH/HGH.
+ To work flexibly in reflection of service needs this may include an extended working day and/or participation in delivery of a 24 hours, 7 days per week service.
+ The post holder will be responsible to the Biomedical Scientists in Blood Sciences.
+ The work involves handling biological samples and paperwork associated with this process therefore the departmental health and safety policies must be adhered to at all times.
NB: Post holder must not work outside their defined field of competence.
Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces, and those who have a disability that requires support in the work place (two ticks pledge) and who meet the essential criteria will be interviewed under the Trust's interview guarantee scheme.
We recognise the positive value of diversity and inclusion and are committed to a workforce that is diverse, equal and inclusive. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME people are currently under-represented in our workforce as well as other under-represented groups such as LGBT+ and disabled candidates. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, we have a Gold award from the Defense Recognition Scheme, and we are delighted to support Apprenticeships, Age Posi+ive and are a mindful employer.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend interview please make the recruitment team aware as soon as possible by calling our HR Recruitment Team on option 2.
Applicants who meet the Fit and Proper Person Requirements (FPPR) will require additional pre-employment checks in line with CQC and NHS England statutory guidance.
Make sure to read the 'applicant guidance notes' before submitting your application and make sure you know everything there is to know before joining our fantastic trust!
Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all successful applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay.

Applications are invited from enthusiastic, confident, motivated and hardworking individuals to work as Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA's) within the combined Blood Science Specimen Reception areas in Pathology.
MLAs are the first point of contact for the Laboratory therefore a friendly, approachable personality and excellent communication skills are essential.
You should have good attention to detail, manual dexterity and the ability to follow defined protocols whilst working quickly but effective under pressure.
Please note there is fixed term and perm positions available.

Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work for an organisation that was voted the best acute and combined acute and community trust in the country, based on the experience of its staff (NHS Staff Survey 2022). Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn't, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare and, this is…the Northumbria Way!
What the Northumbria Way means for you:
+ Extensive staff health and well-being programme including access to our specialist Wellbeing Hub
+ Support and connection through a variety of Staff Network groups
+ A range of flexible working opportunities
+ Generous annual leave and pension scheme
+ Access to lease car and home electronics scheme (qualifying criteria applies)
+ Opportunities to improve your professional development through our vast training programmes
+ On-site nursery places via salary sacrifice
+ Access to savings scheme via salary sacrifice with Northumberland Community Bank
We are proud to be one of the country's top performing NHS trusts - rated 'outstanding' overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We provide a range of health and care services to support more than 500,000 people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside across the largest geographical area of any NHS Trust in England. Our teams deliver care from hospitals, a range of community venues and people's homes. Our hospitals include a specialist emergency care hospital (the first of its kind in England), three general hospitals and community hospitals. In the community we deliver a wide range of community and public health services.
We lead in innovation and quality, having opened the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub during the Covid-19 pandemic and have recently launched our Community Promise - a pledge to make a real impact not just in healthcare but on the wider factors that affect people's lives, such as education, employment and the economy.
If Northumbria Healthcare sounds like somewhere you could belong we would love to hear from you. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.
Whilst Northumbria Healthcare are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.