Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Senior Phlebotomist

This job is now closed

Job summary

The Whittington Health Phlebotomy Service provided Blood tests for more than 65,000 patients across Haringey and Islington last year, and that number will only continue to increase with the introduction of the Wood Green Community Diagnostic Centre.

With this community based focus and commitment to provide Innovative and progressive tertiary care, an opportunity has arisen for and experienced and dedicated individual to help support both the frontline staff and form the first line of response

Main duties of the job

To perform venepuncture on patients as requested by clinicians, appropriately authorised doctors, and health professionals. To collect blood samples safely and to ensure that they are suitable for analysis and testing.
To help supervise and oversee the training of junior members of the Phlebotomy team.
To provide inpatient, outpatient and GP phlebotomy service within Whittington Health in the surrounding area of Haringey, Islington, and Camden.
To be responsible for taking blood samples in a safe and competent manner.
To carry out all procedures safely and always maintain clinical standards according to the Standard Operating Procedures.
To ensure that all samples are labelled correctly.
To have knowledge of the Swift Queue system or able to demonstrate basic IT skills.
To help cover clinics or wards at short notice when needed.
To have experience of dealing with patients with special needs
To have experience of taking blood from difficult areas such as foot and wrist.
To develop skills in training junior/new members of staff and their general day to day management.
To be able to take on extra duties depending on the location, such as GTT tests and other specialised tests for which the post holder will be trained.

About us

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Date posted

05 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£29,651 to £31,312 a year Per Annum Including HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

220-WHT-3553

Job locations

Wood Green Community Diagnostic Centre

The Mall, 159 High Road

London

N22 6YQ

Job description

Job responsibilities

Communication

To ensure effective communication with all staff, patients and relatives/carers demonstrating politeness and empathy, always maintaining confidentiality.

To communicate clearly and effectively with the phlebotomy team and report back regularly to the Phlebotomy manager. To escalate any issues effectively.

To work closely with medical, nursing, laboratory, and phlebotomy staff to provide a rapid collection service, in line with the requirements of Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and outreach sites.

To ensure all the relevant information is relayed to clinical, nursing or laboratory staff in a timely manner.

Able to demonstrate customer care skills when listening to concerns, dealing courteously with visitors, staff, and patients and when using the telephone.

To identify when there are special needs for individual patients and help communicate this in the appropriate way.

Patient Care

Co-operate with clinical, administrative and managerial colleagues to understand their roles within the team and appreciate patient priorities.

Deliver care to all patients regardless of their values, customs, gender, race, culture, religion or preferences.

Deliver care that always upholds patients privacy and dignity.

Report any clinical concerns or abnormalities to a registered professional.

Check that relevant equipment is available and in working order, reporting any defects to the relevant staff.

Receive, check and unpack deliveries to the unit and report on stock levels.

Managing people and resources

To help supervise the phlebotomy team daily and escalate any issues to the phlebotomy manager where necessary.

To help maintain adequate stock levels of blood collection bottles and consumables for the department.

To help ensure that new/junior members of the team always follow the Standard Operating procedures for the phlebotomy department.

To ensure new phlebotomists follow the appropriate training programme.

Personal and People Development

To ensure that all phlebotomists follow all policies and recommendations required for accreditation by the Clinical Pathology Accreditation.

To act as a role model to other phlebotomy staff

To assist with the training and supervision of junior learners following the departmental training programme

To actively participate in yearly appraisals and annual staff reviews

Participate in the Trust Mandatory Training Programme.

Physical Skills

To demonstrate confidently how to deal with body fluids and other hazardous substances and use discretion.
To have good hand eye co-ordination and use manual dexterity involving fine manipulative and repetitive movements essential for the procedure of taking blood in a safe and accurate way.
To be able to comfort and reassure patients.
Be confident in drawing blood from critically ill, vulnerable, and elderly patients

Health and Safety, security, and trust policies

To ensure that all phlebotomists understand and comply with all Trust Policies and Procedures
To understand and adhere to the Trust policy and infection control principal standards to minimise risk to patients and ensure high quality care.
To be responsible for the daily cleaning of phlebotomy work areas (cubicles, trolleys etc) and make sure they are disinfected and re-stocked on a regular basis. To make sure they are kept clean and tidy to maintain patient confidence and prevent infection.
To respect patient confidentiality and in particular the confidentiality of electronically stored data in line with the Data Protection Act (1998) and follow the Caldicott principles and common law duty of confidentiality.
To follow the record keeping guidelines established by the Trust and ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
The post holder must be aware of individual responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act and identify and report as necessary any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment.

Quality

The post holder is expected to collect blood samples from all patients in any clinical setting as requested by an authorised manager, by means of venepuncture, using the method most appropriate to the individual patients needs and requirements.

The post holder is expected to ensure that the required identification details are checked on every patient before the phlebotomy procedure is performed.

The post holder is expected to collect blood samples for a wide variety of tests, the correct volume of which must be collected into the appropriate blood specimen tubes.

Blood sample tubes must be labelled with the details of the relevant patient. Sample tubes should be labelled manually with all of the required information at the bedside and in the presence of the patient, or a sticky label must be applied if available.

The post holder is legally required to legibly and accurately label all blood transfusion sample tubes manually.

The post holder is expected to maintain the quality of blood samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols.

The post holder is expected to participate in research, audit and quality initiatives.

The post holder is expected to handle and process blood samples in a way that:

is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency;

maintains the required quality and integrity;

ensures that the samples are matched with the relevant forms and/or other documentation;

is appropriate to the nature and stage of a patients treatment;

is appropriate to the nature and condition of the sample.

The post holder is required to contribute to continuous quality and service improvement.

The job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances and after consultation with the post holder.

The post holder might be required to work across the Trust at any time throughout the duration of his/her contract, which may entail travel and working at different sites and clinics.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Communication

To ensure effective communication with all staff, patients and relatives/carers demonstrating politeness and empathy, always maintaining confidentiality.

To communicate clearly and effectively with the phlebotomy team and report back regularly to the Phlebotomy manager. To escalate any issues effectively.

To work closely with medical, nursing, laboratory, and phlebotomy staff to provide a rapid collection service, in line with the requirements of Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and outreach sites.

To ensure all the relevant information is relayed to clinical, nursing or laboratory staff in a timely manner.

Able to demonstrate customer care skills when listening to concerns, dealing courteously with visitors, staff, and patients and when using the telephone.

To identify when there are special needs for individual patients and help communicate this in the appropriate way.

Patient Care

Co-operate with clinical, administrative and managerial colleagues to understand their roles within the team and appreciate patient priorities.

Deliver care to all patients regardless of their values, customs, gender, race, culture, religion or preferences.

Deliver care that always upholds patients privacy and dignity.

Report any clinical concerns or abnormalities to a registered professional.

Check that relevant equipment is available and in working order, reporting any defects to the relevant staff.

Receive, check and unpack deliveries to the unit and report on stock levels.

Managing people and resources

To help supervise the phlebotomy team daily and escalate any issues to the phlebotomy manager where necessary.

To help maintain adequate stock levels of blood collection bottles and consumables for the department.

To help ensure that new/junior members of the team always follow the Standard Operating procedures for the phlebotomy department.

To ensure new phlebotomists follow the appropriate training programme.

Personal and People Development

To ensure that all phlebotomists follow all policies and recommendations required for accreditation by the Clinical Pathology Accreditation.

To act as a role model to other phlebotomy staff

To assist with the training and supervision of junior learners following the departmental training programme

To actively participate in yearly appraisals and annual staff reviews

Participate in the Trust Mandatory Training Programme.

Physical Skills

To demonstrate confidently how to deal with body fluids and other hazardous substances and use discretion.
To have good hand eye co-ordination and use manual dexterity involving fine manipulative and repetitive movements essential for the procedure of taking blood in a safe and accurate way.
To be able to comfort and reassure patients.
Be confident in drawing blood from critically ill, vulnerable, and elderly patients

Health and Safety, security, and trust policies

To ensure that all phlebotomists understand and comply with all Trust Policies and Procedures
To understand and adhere to the Trust policy and infection control principal standards to minimise risk to patients and ensure high quality care.
To be responsible for the daily cleaning of phlebotomy work areas (cubicles, trolleys etc) and make sure they are disinfected and re-stocked on a regular basis. To make sure they are kept clean and tidy to maintain patient confidence and prevent infection.
To respect patient confidentiality and in particular the confidentiality of electronically stored data in line with the Data Protection Act (1998) and follow the Caldicott principles and common law duty of confidentiality.
To follow the record keeping guidelines established by the Trust and ensure compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
The post holder must be aware of individual responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act and identify and report as necessary any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment.

Quality

The post holder is expected to ensure that the required identification details are checked on every patient before the phlebotomy procedure is performed.

The post holder is expected to collect blood samples for a wide variety of tests, the correct volume of which must be collected into the appropriate blood specimen tubes.

The post holder is legally required to legibly and accurately label all blood transfusion sample tubes manually.

The post holder is expected to maintain the quality of blood samples at all relevant stages in line with established procedures and protocols.

The post holder is expected to participate in research, audit and quality initiatives.

The post holder is expected to handle and process blood samples in a way that:

is consistent with the indicated degree of risk or urgency;

maintains the required quality and integrity;

ensures that the samples are matched with the relevant forms and/or other documentation;

is appropriate to the nature and stage of a patients treatment;

is appropriate to the nature and condition of the sample.

The post holder is required to contribute to continuous quality and service improvement.

The job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances and after consultation with the post holder.

The post holder might be required to work across the Trust at any time throughout the duration of his/her contract, which may entail travel and working at different sites and clinics.

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

GCSE in maths and English language or minimum of Key Skills Level 2 in literacy and numeracy, or equivalent qualifications
Awareness of the physical, psychological, cultural and social needs of patients

Desirable

U.K. recognised Phlebotomy certificate of competence

Skills & Abilities

Essential

Clear verbal communication
Clear written communication
Basic IT skills
Can demonstrate an enthusiastic, approachable, empathetic and friendly manne
Able to work without supervision
Able to use own initiative

Desirable

Previous Hospital or Phlebotomy experience

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

Experience of working in a clinical team
Experience of working with the public and demonstrating strong customer care skills

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Essential

Proactive, versatile and problem solving approach
Well presented, helpful, civil and courteous
Able to use initiative

Person Specification

Education / Qualifications

Essential

GCSE in maths and English language or minimum of Key Skills Level 2 in literacy and numeracy, or equivalent qualifications
Awareness of the physical, psychological, cultural and social needs of patients

Desirable

U.K. recognised Phlebotomy certificate of competence

Skills & Abilities

Essential

Clear verbal communication
Clear written communication
Basic IT skills
Can demonstrate an enthusiastic, approachable, empathetic and friendly manne
Able to work without supervision
Able to use own initiative

Desirable

Previous Hospital or Phlebotomy experience

Knowledge & Experience

Essential

Experience of working in a clinical team
Experience of working with the public and demonstrating strong customer care skills

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Essential

Proactive, versatile and problem solving approach
Well presented, helpful, civil and courteous
Able to use initiative

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Wood Green Community Diagnostic Centre

The Mall, 159 High Road

London

N22 6YQ

Employer's website

https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Wood Green Community Diagnostic Centre

The Mall, 159 High Road

London

N22 6YQ

Employer's website

https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)