Job summary
- Main area
- Blood sciences
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Lates and weekends)
- Job ref
- 193-7188411NCG
- Employer
- Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Berkshire Hospital
- Town
- Reading
- Salary
- £24,625 - £25,674 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Senior Medical Laboratory Assistant -Training Lead
NHS AfC: Band 3
Royal Berkshire Hospital are pleased to announce that following our CQC inspection we have been rated ‘Good’ with inspectors reporting that we have made significant improvements. The Trust’s overall rating has also improved to ‘good’. This is a great opportunity to join our clinical or non-clinical teams to create a positive and motivating environment within our trust. Come and join our team in this exciting time of change as we pride ourselves, our staff and our services on excellence.
At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we put our patients at the heart of every element of health and care that we provide. The Trust works together as a community to deliver its vision which is “Working together to provide outstanding care for our community.”
We are Compassionate in our thoughts, words and actions
We are Aspirational and have a true desire to be dynamic and to innovate
We are Resourceful and responsible in the way we work and live
We are Excellent in our development, fairness and sharing best practice
Amazing things happen at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; delivered by amazing people so why don’t you come and join us. We offer a range of learning and development for all employees may you be clinical or non-clinical.
Job overview
Medical Laboratory Assistant -Training Lead
The purpose of this job is to assist in the pre-analytical and analytical processing of Blood Sciences Department workload across a range of scientific disciplines under the supervision of the associate practitioner and registered biomedical scientists. Required to communicate with pathology staff, hospital staff, porters, drivers, and couriers. The post holder will be the training lead for support staff in blood sciences.
Main duties of the job
- To assist in the departmental work as instructed, following SOPs under the supervision of the laboratory managers, team leaders and / or Biomedical Scientist staff.
- To lead as a training responsible person for the support staff group.
- Ensure training and training records are maintained as per the department plan.
- Works to achieve competencies across the repertoire of the department as appropriate to grade.
- Displays and maintains an appropriate level of IT skills. Is able to input patient and request data, maintain and amend patient records, interrogate the laboratory and hospital databases and perform basic word processing and spreadsheet work.
- Performs a range of administrative tasks in all sections of the laboratory as required. This includes archiving and retrieval of specimens and data, maintenance of archived material and audit trails.
• Ensures efficient use of resources and is aware of stock levels and rotation, storage conditions, batch numbers and expiry dates, thus ensuring the viability of reagents and/or blood products used.
• Ensures appropriate stock levels are maintained in own area of operation, this may include issuing stock to external departments and GP surgeries, and ordering stock from external suppliers under
supervision.
Working for our organisation
Berkshire & Surrey Pathology Services
(A joint venture with Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust , Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Ashford & St Peters Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust).
Reading sits on the river Thames and is served by great road and rail links to London, Oxford and Southampton. With excellent leisure and shopping facilities, and a thriving cultural scene, Reading is a wonderful place to live, work and play and provides excellent facilities for families, including some of the best state and private schools in the UK.
The CQC recently rated the care provided by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust as Good.
Our values: Compassionate, Aspirational, Resourceful, Excellent, reflect the type of Trust we aspire to be and you can join our dedicated and talented staff to make this happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Our laboratory is fully accredited with UKAS, MHRA and HCPC training status. You will be expected to work according to our working time compliant shift system, this will include nights and weekends.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for full details of the post's main responsibilities.
Person specification
Training
Essential criteria
- Training Exprience
Education & Previous Experience
Essential criteria
- Good A level in two science subjects
- Experience working in similar role
Desirable criteria
- Experience with shift working pattern
- Experience working in the NHS
Work experience
Essential criteria
- Experience working in a team
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Ibtisam Osman
- Job title
- Site Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01183227769
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