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Job summary

Main area
Microbiology
Grade
Band 2
Contract
Fixed term: 12 months (12 months from start of contract)
Hours
  • Full time
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (To cover core laboratory including early and late shifts, occasional weekends and bank holidays)
Job ref
344-9260DCB
Employer
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
William Harvey Hospital
Town
Ashford
Salary
£24,465 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
29/08/2025 23:59

Employer heading

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust logo

Assistant Healthcare Scientist Microbiology

Band 2

Job overview

We are looking for applicants to work as an Assistant Healthcare Scientist within the Microbiology discipline at William Harvey Hospital. There are 3 fulltime posts on a fixed term contract for 12 months.

We currently hold UKAS Accreditation, and are an IBMS training laboratory.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s vision, mission and values, which can be found in our candidate information pack. The Supporting Information Section in your application should therefore reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated Behaviours. You will be expected to provide us with examples from work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviour.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Pathology team at the Trust and to help shape future strategy and services for our local population.

The laboratory is open 7 days per week, with core hours covering 8.30am to 5pm. We are looking for applicants to cover a range of shifts including 1:4  weekends, bank holidays, and Late shifts working until 7pm, but are open to flexible working options within the core hours (no night working).

 

Main duties of the job

The role is based within Microbiology to support Biomedical Scientists in the specimen reception, and preparation and examination of biological samples. 

The post holder will possess good keyboard skills, a high level of accuracy, and must be a good team player with a flexible approach to working. The ideal candidate would have some laboratory experience or an aptitude for science. They should be highly motivated and an enthusiastic individual educated to at least GCSE level or equivalent. A keen eye for detail is required.

Duties include data entry, specimen reception, reagent preparation, general maintenance and stock control.

Working for our organisation

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

 

 

KMPN: Kent and Medway Pathology Network is a formal partnership of seven laboratories across three pathology services in four acute Trusts. Our 1000 colleagues provide services across the health and care sector to a population of nearly 2 million.

 

We are at an exciting point of our network development with a recommendation to form a joint venture across the four Trusts leading transformation.  Our projects including single IT solutions, procurement and digital projects, to ensure our services are able to meet growing demand for our service users, patients and communities. 

 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KMPN: You will have a fantastic opportunity to grow your career in KMPN.  We are developing a network academy, a platform for all network education and training from apprenticeships to advanced clinical and scientific qualifications with a single faculty making best use of our talented educators and trainers.  You will not be expected to work at sites outside of EKHUFT. However, there will be opportunities for collaborative working within the network.

 

 

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in 'supporting documents’. If you have further queries please don’t hesitate to contact the line manager using the contact details below.

 

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

 

Kindly note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • A good standard of education in Mathematics, English and Science GCSE or equivalent

Personal / Professional attributes

Essential criteria
  • Able to demonstrate experience working in a customer services position
  • Understands and practices the principles of confidentiality.
  • Able to demonstrate working in a busy, high pressure role, whilst meeting targets
Desirable criteria
  • Able to plan workloads/workflow to meet targets

Clinical skills and Experience

Essential criteria
  • Has experience working in a Microbiology laboratory
Desirable criteria
  • Previous Laboratory experience, not in Microbiology

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardThe Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion is the leading employer network covering all aspects of equality and inclusion in the workplace.Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyMenopause Friendly EmployerAge positiveInvestors in People: GoldDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - BronzeImproving working livesMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerThe Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (enei) is the UK's leading employer network covering all aspects of equality and inclusion issues in the workplace.Prince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingArmed Forces Covenant

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Michael Dawson
Job title
Chief Biomedical Scientist - Microbiology
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01233 616760
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