Job vacancy: Senior Biomedical Scientist, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Prescot

Job summary

Main area: Pathology
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract: 12 months (Fixed term for 12 months, cover for secondment)
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 409-8345457

Employer: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Whiston
Town: Prescot
Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 Per annum pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 06/11/2026 23:59

Senior Biomedical Scientist

NHS AfC: Band 7

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

· Maintain registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

· Adhere to relevant Codes of Practice of the HCPC and the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

· Ensure all records are kept up to date and stored safely for compliance with the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS)

· Comply with good laboratory practice required for the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) and the Health and safety executive guidelines (HSE)

· Comply with the local and national policies for safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other laboratory information

· Follow trust policies, guidelines and procedures when using the Trust wide IT system

· Participate in audit of data held on the laboratory IT system

TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSBILITIES

· Responsible for the supervision, training and continued competence assessment of Biomedical Scientists (BMS), Trainee BMSs and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA)

· Ensure the delivery of training, development and competence assessments of all staff.

· Assist, as required by the Departmental Manager, in the organisation of, and participation in, formal training programmes for staff members.

· Coordinate and Undertake tutorial sessions to assist trainee BMSs with the completion of the Registration portfolio and state registered BMS staff with the specialist portfolio.

· Participate in formal and informal CPD activities and attend educational and training courses as appropriate, maintaining knowledge of advances in relevant scientific areas, through continuing professional development.

Person specification

Our Values

Essential criteria

We are Kind
We are Open
We are Inclusive

Qualifications

Essential criteria

MSc Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
Fellowship of Institute of Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council

Desirable criteria

Management Qualification within the NHS

Experience

Essential criteria

Minimum 2 years post registration
Knowledge of continuous Improvement processes
Proven ability to manage and perform audit
Working knowledge of laboratory computer systems and standard IT packages
High level knowledge of pathology instrumentation
Knowledge of Health & safety requirements including COSHH regulations and assessment
Experience of managing quality systems including document control, ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) accreditation and Keele Benchmarking
Evidence of Continuing Professional Development

Skills

Essential criteria

Demonstrates ability to work under pressure and give direction to others as appropriate to ensure effective management of the departmental daily workload.
Demonstrates the ability to organise own workload and that of departmental staff
Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Demonstrates good time management skills

Desirable criteria

Experience of presentations

Other

Essential criteria

Prior experience in the implementation of new technologies
Ability to manage a team as part of that team
Evidence of good personal development and a commitment to general staff education and training

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab)

Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

eVisa Update

For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.

Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.

Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

Create a UKVI account
Link their current passport
Access their eVisa straightaway to check all details. Incorrect information should be reported as soon as possible using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/report-error-evisa
Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.