Medical Laboratory Assistant - Microbiology (Band 2)

We are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA). We are lookingfor enthusiastic, well-motivated, innovative individuals to join our team in providing a quality microbiology service to our service users, within Microbiology laboratories located at Airedale General Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary Hospital sites.
Following full training the post holders will be an integral part of the Microbiology department; responsible for processing a variety of Microbiological samples using both manual and automated systems in routine bacteriology & molecular areas of the department. This will also include dealing with telephone calls from service users.
Evidence of any relevant existing Microbiology Laboratory experience within the application will be vital for shortlisting.
This advert may close early depending on the number of applications.
Interview date: Wednesday 19^th July 2023 (on-site interview at Airedale NHSFT), To work, under the direction of qualified staff, as part of the pathology team providing mutual support at all times ensuring that work is completed. Process clinical specimens for biological testing and associated supporting functions., 1. Under supervision, and following Standard Operating Procedures, the following duties may be carried out:
o Undertake in-service training
o Deal with telephone enquiries
o Liaise with and despatch consumables to service users
o Solve day to day problems e.g. mislabelled specimens
o Sort and prepare work for diagnostic testing
o Prioritise and fast track urgent and emergency work
o Input PID and other data into the laboratory computer
o Maintain stocks of reagents and consumables
o Prepare test materials, such as making up solutions of chemicals
o Disposal of waste, including waste from the Category 3 Room
o Disinfection and cleaning of equipment and working areas
o The routine maintenance of equipment
o When appropriate assist in the training of new staff
o Prepare media and ensure quality control including pre-acceptance testing
o Assist in the culture of faeces, urine, swabs, aspirates and mycology specimens to include, tissues, fluids
o Label and load blood culture sets received in the laboratory
o Assist in the environmental bacteriology work, including weekly sampling of Physiotherapy Pool waters and the monthly testing of Renal Dialysis waters
o Retrieve and grow organisms stored on beads in the deep freeze
o Sending away of specialist tests to reference laboratories in line with SOP
o Scanning of reference laboratory reports into the digital storage solution
o Assist in receipt, labelling and pre-analytical processing in Molecular laboratory
o Complete maintenance and troubleshooting of analysers, as appropriate and described by SOP, e.g. routine maintenance of Hologic Panther
2. To participate in an annual Staff Development Review, Continual Professional Development and the educational activities of the Department.
3. To participate in monitoring Clinical Effectiveness and the audit activities of the Department and to contribute to the Trust procedures and activities in support of Clinical Governance.
4. To participate in ensuring that the Department complies with the requirements of UKAS accreditation to ISO15189:2012.
5. To be able to identify, handle safely, use and store all substances hazardous to health and comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations.
6. To co-operate with supervisors, managers and other employees to achieve a healthy and safe working environment, to take reasonable care of your own health and safety and that of other persons who may be affected by your actions, to carry out your responsibilities in ways that help to ensure a safe and healthy place of work.
7. To ensure the security at all times, including the risk from fire, of the Department.
8. To lift and manoeuvre light goods and equipment in accordance with manual handling regulations and good practice.
9. To deal politely and efficiently with any enquiries from staff, patients and any members of the public.
10. To work within the Trust Equal Opportunities Policy and promote equality of opportunity at work and equality of access to healthcare at all times.
11. To ensure confidentiality at all times, to be aware of the Data Protection Act in relation to all information concerning patients and to only release information to those acting in an official capacity as authorised by Trust and/or Departmental policy.
12. To participate in the out of hours MLA shift system on a rostered basis as and when required, including evening and weekend working, as well as overnight working for 24/7 processes such as PCR work in the molecular laboratory where applicable.
13. Any other duties necessary for the successful performance of the role.
We are happy to discuss flexible working opportunities.
NOTE: This vacancy may close before the advertised closing date if sufficient suitable applications are received.
If you are offered a position which requires you to undertake a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust will administer the DBS check on your behalf and will recover the cost (Enhanced £41.90, Standard £21.90 or Basic £21.90) from your first full months salary. This is a condition of your employment.
In applying for a post that requires a DBS check you are confirming that you have read and understood the DBS Privacy Policy for Enhanced and Standard Checks (Click here for the privacy policy)
You are encouraged to participate in the DBS Update Service and pay the £13 cost per year.
We encourage applicants to receive the Covid-19 vaccination but this will not be a condition of deployment with the organisation. We will be asking applicants to share their vaccination status as part of our normal pre employment screening but this will not affect their employment status with the Trust.

At Airedale, we are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. We actively encourage applications irrespective of people's age, lived experience of living with a disability or long-term conditions, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances.
Increasing our diversity and supporting our organisation to be more inclusive is a key priority here at Airedale and our teams are at the centre of how we work towards this.
We appreciate all people may have diverse and individual needs and we pride ourselves on supporting all people to thrive and flourish at work. We have frameworks in place that support reasonable adjustments and flexible working for colleagues throughout their working lives which starts at recruitment.
These are exciting times for Airedale. We have the once-in-a-career opportunity to be involved in the planning and building of a completely new hospital here on our Steeton site by 2030. By joining us now you'll be a key part of our journey over the next few years, with the chance to input into a state-of-the-art, modern healthcare facility that will deliver care to our communities for decades to come. We are also on the journey to a new electronic patient record, part of our wider ambition for our digital future - a future that builds on our significant telemedicine and digital care success. Ultimately, what makes Airedale special is our people. Not just our staff, but our volunteers, patients, visitors, and wider population who make up the Airedale family. This is a Trust that sits at the heart of our community, and our communities are very proud of their Trust., Airedale NHS Foundation Trust (ANSHFT), Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTHFT) and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) have formed a joint venture, Integrated Pathology Solution (IPS), to provide a high-quality diagnostic and consultative service to clinical service users of all three Hospital Trusts, and to primary and secondary care providers within the locality.
Successful applicants will be directly employed by ANHST. The Trust is fully committed to its staff and actively encourages staff development with a keen focus on quality and continuous improvement.
The Microbiology Department at Airedale processes the work for both ANHSFT, BTHFT and community services, with the combined workload of approximately 400,000 requests per year.
We provide a comprehensive clinical and diagnostic service utilising automated technologies including Beckman Microscan automated sensitivity platform, Bruker MALDI-TOF, sediMAX urine analyser, BD Bactec FX, BD MGIT, Hologic Panther, AusDiagnostic and Cepheid platforms.