Healthcare Science Associate Practitioner - Microbiology

Job summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic individual to assist Biomedical scientists in our busy, friendly Microbiology laboratory.

Permanent Full-time 37.5 hours per week, including weekend and late shift working

The laboratory is currently open from 8am to 8pm 7 days 365 days a year.

Shifts will fall within these hours, normally 8:30am to 5pm with a block rotation currently 1 in 4 on a weekend/late working shift.

Main duties of the job

UHMB has two UKAS ISO 15189 accredited Medical Microbiology labs.

The Microbiology Laboratory at Furness General Hospital provides services for the hospital, local GP's, and a range of other health care providers. Duties of the post include MRSA plate interpretation; waste disposal duties, answering the telephone, registering requests on the computer, molecular and bacterial sample preparation and associated laboratory procedures. The role also involves significant manual handling, fine motor hand skills and accurate transcription of text and numerical information. You will be expected to work with COVID-19 samples with the correct H&S protocols in place.

We would expect you to have a good general education; prospective candidates must have experience in laboratory work; additional training will be given. Anyone newly appointed to the trust will be subject to the completion of a satisfactory 6 month probationary period. This will give the new staff member an opportunity to become familiar with the role and working environment. Candidates with 3 A levels (including Biology or Chemistry) or equivalent may be considered for this position together with laboratory experience

About us

We operate from three main hospitals - Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal, as well as a number of community health care premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre.

FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, with full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant-led services.

WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non-life threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses.

All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery. In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay.