Associate Practitioner and Quality Support Officer

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We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within the Trust.

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Job overview

Associate Practitioner and Quality Support Officer (Fixed Term 6 Months)

Performs a number of healthcare science clinical technical and administrative activities under supervision, including document approval, auditing and incident management, as appropriate to the training and qualifications of a Healthcare Science Associate Practitioner.

The post holder will be required to support the Quality Manager in implementing quality based activities for the continual improvement of the process and workflows

We have 1 fulltime, fixed term (6 months) post, based predominantly at the BRI with regular support at WGH. The post holder will be required to work closely with all sections within Specimen reception, Essential Services Laboratory and overall Lab Med.

The post holder will be required to work 9am-5:30pm Monday to Friday.

Main duties of the job

1. In conjunction with the leadership and quality teams, aid the Quality Manager in developing and implementing the Quality Management Systems (QMS) to enable United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS), Human Tissue Authority (HTA), Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia (SCT) screening requirements and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) compliance as required.
2. To monitor the effectiveness of the QMS by conducting horizontal, vertical and examination audits of assays and processes, assess compliance to relevant standards and suggest improvement activities.
3. In conjunction with the quality team, provide QMS induction training to new members of staff to the department, assess staff QMS competency and monitor QMS training compliance.
4. Develop and implement quality management documents and procedures, in particular for validation and verification as part of the ongoing Managed Service Contract changes.
5. Perform daily QMS administration tasks such as document approval, scheduling audits into weekly rotas and distributing documents.
6. Aid the Quality Manager in collating KPI data and producing reports for clinical governance and management meetings.
7. Helping to implement a "right first time" culture.

Working for our organisation

Anonymous information will be used from your application in order to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the job description attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Qualifications and Training

• BSc or equivalent qualification in Biomedical Science or other science based degree
• Previous experience of working in an NHS laboratory
• Previous experience and use of Laboratory Information System (LIMS)
• Evidence of CPD

• Knowledge to diploma (NVQ4) level of the systems and processes involved in operation of a blood sciences laboratory

Knowledge and Experience

• Have an understanding of quality standards (e.g. ISO 15189:2012)
• Experience of laboratory computer systems
• Knowledge of a range of pathology analytical systems, techniques and QA
• Have an understanding of the critical importance of confidentiality
• Evidence of successful working within a team

• Has a good understanding of validation and verification
• Experience of document management systems (e.g. Q-pulse)

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with a range of people, and to build confidence quickly
• Ability to represent the department effectively

• Ability to organise own area workload to meet deadlines
• Knowledge of hospital computer systems such as Winpath

• As an equal opportunities employer actively working towards a diverse workforce we aim to recruit and retain a workforce which represents the rich diversity of the local population at all levels and are committed to designing our services around the needs of individual patients and those around them. Anonymous information will be used from your application to ensure we’re meeting our pledge.
• The Trust is committed to investing in and caring for all our staff. We will support you in maintaining and improving your health and wellbeing, as well as your career development through management and training support - developing exceptional people for exceptional careers.
• UHBW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
• To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 all applicants must be able to speak fluent English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed at Interview.
• If you require sponsorship for a visa to work in the UK, to avoid disappointment, please check to ensure you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
• The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
• By applying for this post, you are agreeing to University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
• Please be aware of scams – unless specified above, we will only communicate with you via @recruit.trac.jobs or nhs.net e-mails and we will never ask you for any payments.

IMPORTANT:

Please note that if you apply for a position with this Trust, you may be contacted via Trac or via email. This includes invites for job interviews. We therefore recommend that you regularly check your Trac account and email accounts. We may also contact you by texting the mobile number, if provided, on the application form.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date. Therefore, please apply for this post as soon as you can, if you are interested and you meet the requirements of the Person Specification

Only those candidates who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for this job.

As a guide interviews should usually take place within 3 weeks of the closing date.

When providing employment reference details, please provide correct work-related email addresses so references can be sought promptly when we are looking to progress your application. Your referee must all be known to you in a line manager or professional lead capacity.