Biomedical Science Assistant – Higher Level (POCT)

Job summary

Please note, this role will predominantly involve working 37.5 core hours 09:00 - 17:30. However, there may be a requirement to spread these hours between 08:00 - 20:00, Monday to Sunday and across the NGH and RHH sites.

Are you looking for an exciting new challenge in a place to take your career to the next level? Would you like to join a friendly, progressive, innovative team and play a part in the transformation of pathology services across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw? Do you want to work in a fully UKAS-accredited, modern laboratory environment where you can make a difference?

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Laboratory Medicine - Point of Care Testing (POCT) department at The Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals, part of the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Pathology Partnership, for a fixed-term Band 3 Biomedical Science Assistant - Higher Level (HBSA) for 6 months. Please note: the contract end date for this post is 31 March 2027. If the successful candidate is in post after 01 October 2026, the contract will run until the specified end date and will be less than 6 months.

Please note, this role will predominantly involve working 37.5 core hours 09:00 - 17:30. However, there may be a requirement to spread these hours between 08:00 - 20:00, Monday to Sunday.

Main duties of the job

If you would like to join a friendly, progressive, innovative team and play a part in the transformation of pathology services across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw we would like to hear from you.

As an integral part of the POCT team, you will have a key role in supporting the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH) clinical areas with the operational requirements of running flu point of care testing devices during "flu-season". This work has a positive direct impact on patient care and management and ensures the high-quality standards from laboratory specimen testing is transferred and upheld at the point of patient care. The duties of this role also include ensuring quality and clinical governance is upheld with the use of POCT devices, staff training on the use of POCT devices, information management and consumables management of POCT devices all under the supervision of the POCT Coordinators.

About us

You will be working for an organisation which values and respects all its staff and the community it serves. The Trust is a leader in the NHS and research sectors and provides excellent benefits for its staff. This includes commitments to professional development but also many policies to support employees in balancing their personal and professional lives.

STH operates with a budget of £1.2 bn, has a workforce of over 18,500 employees, covers five hospital sites, provides care from over forty community settings, and has an excellent reputation for research.

As an organisation we value and respect our staff and the community we serve. We provide excellent staff benefits; this includes commitment to professional development but also many initiatives to support employees in balancing their personal and professional lives.

The South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Pathology Partnership are invested in training, developing, and supporting staff in all aspects including academic courses from certificates of achievement, registration, specialist and higher specialist IBMS portfolios, apprenticeships and leadership and management qualifications.

We pride ourselves in enabling opportunity across all our sites to develop staff and provide a strong and sustained service for the future.

Job responsibilities

Please view the attached Job Description and Person Specification documents for full details regarding this post.

When completing your application please ensure that you clearly demonstrate how you meet the role criteria.

This vacancy is advertised on a fixed term contract basis for a period until 31st March 2027 due to the post being recruited as part of a limited term project within the Trust. The fixed term contract status of the post holder will be reviewed in accordance with the Trust's legal obligations regarding fixed term contracts taking into consideration the requirement for the post to be maintained as a part of the projects implementation and the timescales associated with this.

Please also note any secondment must first be agreed with your current line manager.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths and English at level C/4 or above
• Level 3 qualification e.g. NVQ, 2 A-Levels, Apprenticeship or IBMS Certificate of Achievement (Part I) plus Significant laboratory experience or Extensive laboratory experience in the relevant discipline

Experience

Essential

• Ability to follow and work to Standard Operating Procedures and Policy

Desirable

• Experience with a range of laboratory techniques
• Previous NHS laboratory experience

Skills & Knowledge

Essential

• Keyboard and basic IT skills
• Effective Communication skills, written and oral
• Have an awareness of Health & Safety issues

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Ability to plan and prioritise allocated work