Job summary
- Main area
- Pathology
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 409-8394854
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Warrington Hospital
- Town
- Warrington
- Salary
- £25,760 - £27,476 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 20/11/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Medical Laboratory Assistant (Warrington)
NHS AfC: Band 3
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
We currently have the following 2 positions available:
409-8394854 - 1 x Permanent 37.5 Hours per week based at Warrington
409-8394147 - 1 x Permanent 37.5 Hours per week based as Whiston
Both roles will involve cross site working.
Working in a busy, high throughput Cellular Pathology Department which is supportive of staff development the post holder will take an active role in the performance of the routine and delegated tasks involved in the delivery of a histology service which enables high standards of patient care, maintaining good working relations with all staff, promoting effective team work and the professional image of the Department of Pathology within the Trust
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.
Main duties of the job
General laboratory surface cleaning of fittings and equipment
Dispatch of unprocessed (fixed) tissue to outside agencies.
Receipt, preparation and assisting dissection of histology specimens, according to departmental SOPs
Take responsibility for the digital photography of gross specimens at cut-up and downloading onto the Telepath system
Maintain and prepare solutions, reagents and stains according to departmental SOPs and COSHH data
To file microscope slides and wax blocks as part of general housekeeping for the department
To participate in routine embedding and section cutting
Receipt and disposal of surgical tissue not requiring histopathology from surgical theatres
Dispose of laboratory specimen waste, under senior biomedical scientist supervision, according to departmental policies
Ensure all re-usable specimen containers are cleaned in readiness for supply to theatres, clinics and GPs
Maintain the tissue processors, including the loading of them after specimen dissection and on a rotational cycle, change the reagents, recording it in reagent log, ensuring that protocols according to SOPs and COSHH are adhered to
Assist in the daily internal quality control by ensuring that all slides are stained and mounted and that the correct slide data is put onto the slides. Match up slides and patient’s cards in readiness for the BMS staff to check
Comply at all times with the Trust Health and Safety Policy and the Laboratory Health and Safety Policy.
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
Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for a more detailed description of the role
Person specification
Our Values
Essential criteria
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Basic numeracy and literacy
- NVQ Level 3 or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Basic typing
- Basic computing
Experience
Desirable criteria
- Experience working in a similar role
- Previous laboratory experience
- Previous computing experience
Skills
Essential criteria
- Strong prioritisation skills
- Ability to manage own workload
- Ability to work flexibly
- Team player
- Good communication skills
Other
Desirable criteria
- Self motivated
- Prepared to learn new skills
- Creative, comes up with new ideas
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Victoria Egan
- Job title
- Senior BMS
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0151 430 1828
List jobs with Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in Health Science Services or all sectors












