Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a motivated, focused and enthusiastic Associate Practitioner in the Haemostasis and Thrombosis laboratory associated with the Kent Haemophilia Centre. This is a key operational support position working with the scientific team. The successful candidate will work alongside staff, assisting in the smooth day to day running of the laboratory at Kent & Canterbury Hospital, Canterbury.

Applicants should have experience of working in an ISO 15189 accredited pathology laboratory. The ideal person will have strong people skills, excellent interpersonal sensitivity and the ability to multitask. You will be expected to work within a multi-disciplinary team using analytical equipment under the guidance of registered scientific staff. You will be operating in sometimes challenging situations in order to maintain a safe, proactive and high-quality response to the demand of a modern specialised department. In return we offer a place in a small, specialised scientific team, with members motivated to provide the best service for the patients in our care.

This is an exciting opportunity both to join our team at the Trust and at a wider level to help shape future strategy and services for our local population as our services are within the Kent and Medway (South 8) Pathology Network and are in discussion regarding transforming pathology services for the future.

Main duties of the job

The Associate Practitioner Healthcare Scientist undertakes duties to support Biomedical Scientists and Clinical Scientists in the examination of biological samples and the implementation of ISO standards, thereby contributing to the provision of a professional clinical laboratory service. This is achieved by carrying out technical, administrative or quality tasks as directed by qualified BMS staff.

Kent and Medway Pathology Network (KMPN) 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.

KMPN 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.

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.

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.

The hospitals are situated within easy reach of London and Europe by both road and rail (e.g. 35 minutes from Ashford to London St Pancras). East Kent is a delightful place to live with a fantastic coastline, beautiful countryside and villages, outstanding schools and the cathedral city of Canterbury. 

As a professionally diverse team, the philosophy of the Haemostasis and Thrombosis service is to strive for excellence, with Quality and Service Improvement at the heart of all we do. We are proud to be accredited by UKAS ISO 15189:2022 standards.

We have an extensive repertoire and scope of practice, using the latest high-quality innovation and technology, for instance STA-R Max analysers, Ceveron S100, PFA-200, PAP-8 Platelet Aggregometer, Glomax luminometer, Dynex DS2 automated ELISA analyser and the GeneXpert.