Job summary
- Main area
- Pathology
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 2
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 27.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 409-8351017
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Warrington Hospital
- Town
- Warrington
- Salary
- £25,272 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/11/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Medical Laboratory Assistant
NHS AfC: Band 2
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.
Job overview
You are invited to join our team of MLA’s within the Pathology department at Warrington Hospital. We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual with a willingness to learn. This post has limited patient contact.
The Reception area is an integral part of Pathology ensuring that specimens are received and routed through the laboratories fulfilling turnaround times and delivering a quality service.
The department is divided into five main areas, Reception, Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology and Histology which are all well equipped with automated track systems and analysers. The department as a whole process’s requests from within Warrington and Halton hospitals as well as GP users, nursing homes, other out of area hospitals and outlying clinics. The department process approximately 900,000 requests a year.
The post is a 27.5-hour permanent contract working Monday to Friday and core hours are 12:00pm to 17:30pm.
The reception area is covered from 08:00am to 20:00pm so early and late shifts will be part of the role once training has been completed.
The reception area also includes weekend and Bank Holiday working on a rota basis Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday 09:00am to 17:00pm.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be required to have good keyboard skills. Excellent communication skills and telephone manner are also essential together with the ability to work as a team member coping within a busy environment and working to deadlines.
Training will be given in all aspects of the role and an ability to work autonomously once trained is essential.
Duties of the post within the Reception area include sorting specimens involving checking patient demographics and test information, inputting data on to the Laboratory Information System, referring samples to other laboratories for analysing, answering telephone queries and giving out results to users, to despatch outgoing reports/mail for delivery, to attend relevant clinics and to be flexible to undertake other tasks as required.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For more information regarding the main responsibilities and requirements essential for this role please refer to the ‘supporting documents’ heading and review the job description and person specification which will outline the duties of the role
Person specification
Our Values
Essential criteria
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Basic English and Mathematics skills – Grade C and above/Level 2 and above
Desirable criteria
- RSA II or equivalent qualification/experience
Experience
Essential criteria
- Ability to understand and follow tasks and instructions
- Ability to work with indirect supervision
- Ability to prioritise workload
- Ability to work on own initiative
- Ability to work in a team working environment
- Able to manage personal and others workload effectively
- Follow standard operating procedures
Desirable criteria
- Understands the requirement for patient confidentiality
- Laboratory experience
Skills
Essential criteria
- Flexible approach and ability to work under pressure
- Computer data input skills
- Good interpersonal skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Able to handle plasma/serum and other bodily fluids as per protocol
- Attention to detail and accuracy
Other
Essential criteria
- Willing and able to learn new skills
- Reasonable manual dexterity
- Ability to life and move a variety of packages
- Previous NHS experience
Desirable criteria
- Confidence in answers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dawn Cunliffe
- Job title
- Reception Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01925 662136
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