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Job summary

Main area
Orthopaedic Oncology & Specialist Hip and Knee Unit
Grade
Band 3
Contract
Fixed term: 12 months (12 months)
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Mon-Fri)
Job ref
392-RNOH-1270
Employer
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
Town
Stanmore, Middlesex
Salary
£29,651 - £31,312 Per annum including HCAS
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
19/08/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust logo

Biobank Assistant/ Research/ Data Technician

Band 3

Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. 

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK and a global leader in our field.  We provide a dynamic working environment where we support frontline staff to implement improvements so that we can realise our vision of being a world leading neuro musculoskeletal hospital providing the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS, delivering world leading research, and offering a strong foundation of education, training and career progression. Our dedicated staff come from diverse backgrounds, and our patients benefit from the wide range of experience they bring to the Trust. The RNOH brings unrivalled expertise together in one place allowing us to deliver some of the world’s most complex and innovative care to our patients

  • Rated Good by the CQC
  • Two sites, one in central London and one in Stanmore - which has recently opened The Stanmore Building, a new, state-of-the-art inpatient facility
  • Our Research and Innovation Centre works closely with our main academic partner, University College London
  • Recognised as a centre of excellence,  leading on national initiatives, such as the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme
  • Further major redevelopment underway across the Stanmore site – improving and modernising our facilities to maintain our position as the UK’s leading centre for orthopaedic medicine
  • In the NHS staff survey, over 90% of our staff were satisfied with the quality of care they are able to give to patients - the best result of any NHS Trust in the country
  • Our staff also indicated that they had the best experience of appraisals as compared to all other NHS Trusts.

This is a great time to join us and play a critical role in the next stage of RNOH’s journey to achieving an outstanding CQC rating.

Our aim is to remain a world-leading orthopaedic hospital with the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS. To do this, we have four core values that underpin everything that we do. We use our values to help ensure that we are always focused on the things that our staff and patients believe are most important:

  • Patients first, always
  • Excellence, in all we do
  • Trust, honesty and respect, for each other
  • Equality, for all

Our annual staff survey results have been improving year on year, with our staff telling us that their experience of working at the Trust is getting better and better. They also indicate that our staff feel very loyal to the RNOH and committed to its role in providing the very best care to our complex patient group. We hope that we can welcome you to our growing team soon.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has become available at the RNOH for an individual interested in supporting clinical research within the NHS.

The Histopathology Department is looking for a full-time Band 3 Biobank Assistant to join our research team. The Biobank is based within the RNOH Histopathology department which provides NHS clinical diagnostics for sarcoma patients across the UK. Sarcoma is a rare cancer and patient survival has not significantly improved over the last 20 years. Access to these samples and clinical data is essential for translational research which is improving our understanding of sarcoma.

Main duties of the job

 

The successful applicant will work within the Biobank research team run by Professor Adrienne Flanagan who leads sarcoma research in the UK. They will join a busy team of 3-4 research technicians and will play a vital part in supporting valuable research for patient benefit. The candidate will support the daily activities of the Biobank team by selecting, tracking and archiving samples (such as slides, wax blocks, frozen tissues and DNA/RNA) as well as performing other operational/administrative tasks to ensure the smooth running of the Biobank. In particular, they will be involved in a digital pathology project where thousands of slides will be scanned and linked to clinical data. These will contribute to a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) project which aims to develop algorithms that can recognise different tumour types, in collaboration with computational scientists at UCL.

Working for our organisation

RNOH Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (RNOH) is the largest orthopaedic hospital in the UK and a global leader in our field. We provide a dynamic working environment where we support frontline staff to implement improvements so that we can realise our vision of being a world leading neuro-musculoskeletal hospital providing the best patient care and staff experience in the NHS, delivering world leading research, and offering a strong foundation of education, training and career progression. Our dedicated staff come from diverse backgrounds, and our patients benefit from the wide range of experience they bring to the trust. RNOH brings unrivalled expertise together in one place allowing us to deliver some of the world’s most complex and innovative care to our patients. RNOH is rated good by the CQC and covers two sites, one in central London and one in Stanmore - which has recently opened The Stanmore Building, a new, state-of-the-art inpatient facility. For more information, please access the following link: https://www.rnoh.nhs.uk/

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.
Selecting, preparing and scanning slides for digital pathology projects.
2.
Using databases and spreadsheets to collect and organise clinical data and to log and track research samples.
3.
Cleansing current databases and clinical information in preparation for the implementation of our new system.
4.
Preparing samples to be sent by courier, or receiving them from collaborators.
5.
Pseudonymising and storing patient and clinical trial samples appropriately.
6.
Identifying, using hospital databases, patients eligible to be approached for donating their tissue for research.
7.
Seeking consent from patients in person or otherwise.
8.
Collecting patient samples from operating theatres for research purposes.
9.
Preparing blood packs and consent forms for colleagues.
10.
Working flexibly between Stanmore and Bolsover St sites as required to contact patients.
11.
Attending Biobank team meetings.
12.
Administrative duties: scanning patient consent forms, pulling and archiving wax blocks and slides.
13.
Any other duties required to maintain the operation of the Biobank.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • A BSc in a subject related to biological sciences.
  • Willing to undergo relevant training
  • Good A level/NVQ Level 3 qualifications.
Desirable criteria
  • A MSc in a subject related to biological sciences.

Experience

Essential criteria
  • An interest in pursuing a career in science/healthcare/research related work.
Desirable criteria
  • Aware of Health and Safety in healthcare/laboratory environments.
  • Experience of working in a customer facing environment

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria
  • Basic IT skills - IT Skills (to be tested during probationary period)
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of using spreadsheets to compare data.
  • Inputs data accurately into spreadsheets and databases.
  • Experience of using databases to search for information.

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Good numeracy & literacy skills (written and verbal) in English (e.g. GCSE level Maths, Science, English).
Desirable criteria
  • Aware of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA).

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyInvestors in People: GoldImproving working livesCare quality commission - GoodMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerNHS Rainbow badgeNational Preceptorship for Nursing Quality MarkBronze Trailblazer by Race Equality MattersDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldAccredited Menopause Friendly EmployerRoyal College of Anaesthetists AccreditedCareLeaver CovenantThe Employer Standards provide a clear framework to businesses of all shapes and sizes to maximise the impact of employer engagement with young people, ensuring mutual value and long-term business success

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Simon Burn
Job title
Service Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0208 909 5354
Additional information

For further information regarding the post, please contact ;

[email protected]

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