Job overview

**Please note this vacancy is only open to staff currently working in Kent and Medway Pathology Network (KMPN)**

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Applications from candidates in other NHS trusts will not be considered.

We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic and motivated applicants for this full-time Quality Officer in our regional specialist team. In this post we can offer you a rewarding and flexible role, supporting the delivery of the Laboratory’s Quality Management System (QMS) and Health and Safety procedures which together underpin our extensive haemostasis and thrombosis diagnostic services. This will include participation in and coordination of a range of QMS activities such as document control, audit, investigation of non-conformities, quality improvement and risk management.

You will be joining our team of experienced and dedicated Biomedical Scientists alongside our Clinical Scientist and Associate Practitioner, where you will have the opportunity to work closely with our medical team in the Kent Haemostasis and Thrombosis Comprehensive Care Centre, supporting the operational delivery of a high quality and safe patient focused service.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will act as the Haemostasis and Thrombosis Quality Officer working closely with the Quality Lead and Senior Biomedical Scientists to deliver the Laboratory’s Quality Management System (QMS) supporting effective and efficient patient care, and in accordance with medical laboratory accreditation standards. This will include participation in and coordination of a range of QMS activities including document control, audit, investigation of non-conformities, quality improvement and risk management.

The post holder will also act as the Health & Safety Officer for the laboratory, responsible for the production and review of COSHH and risk assessments in line with both Discipline and Trust policy.  They will maintain and develop the Laboratory’s health and safety processes in accordance with statute and local Health and Safety Rules. 

The successful candidate should have a strong understanding of Haemostasis and Thrombosis as well as a firm grasp of quality and risk. They should have considerable and up to date knowledge and experience of the UKAS ISO 15189:2022 standards and delivering a QMS, preferably within a comprehensive care centre setting.

Our Haemostasis and Thrombosis Laboratory processes approximately 237,000 tests annually. The Kent Haemophilia Centre is a regional referral centre for a large geographic area across the South East, with over 1000 patients registered.

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.

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 current projects include single IT solutions, procurement and digital projects, to ensure our services are able to meet the growing demand from our service users, patients and communities.