Job vacancy: Biomedical Scientist / Trainee Biomedical Scientist, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich

Job summary

Main area

Cellular Pathology

Grade

NHS AfC: Band 5

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Flexible working
Annualised hours

37.5 hours per week

Job ref

234-25-E0412

Employer: Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: The Cotman Centre
Town: Norwich
Salary: £29,970 - £36,483 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 03/08/2025 23:59
Interview date: 19/08/2025

Biomedical Scientist / Trainee Biomedical Scientist

NHS AfC: Band 5

At NNUH it is our privilege to provide healthcare to over one million people across Norfolk and surrounding areas. Our vision is to ‘provide the best care for every patient’, and if this inspires you and you share our values, we really want you to join our team.

NNUH is currently the busiest Trauma Unit in the East of England caring for almost 850 trauma patients annually many with complex care needs. We are enhancing our urgent and emergency care specialist services for patients with significant injuries as a result of trauma and have an ambition to become a Major Trauma Centre.

Our values support our vision and guide the behaviour of everything we do, these are:

People-focused

We look after the needs of our patients, carers and colleagues, to provide a safe and caring experience for all.

Respect

We act with care, compassion and kindness and value others’ diverse needs.

Integrity

We take an honest, open and ethical approach to everything we do.

Dedication

We work as one team and support each other to maintain the highest professional standards.

Excellence

We continuously learn and improve to achieve the best outcomes for our patients and our hospital.

Wish you were here? So do we.

We want all our staff to achieve a balance between work and personal life and understand how important flexible working can be. We welcome applications on a full or part time basis, various shift patterns and hybrid working, where roles allow.

At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH), we know the benefits diversity can bring to our organisation such as creativity, innovation and compassion. All of which have a direct impact towards our staff and patient experience. We are committed to being a Hospital for All – being equitable and inclusive, and a place where all feel a sense of belonging. We therefore particularly encourage and welcome applications from candidates who are underrepresented in NNUH’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, people with diverse abilities and people within the LGBT+ community.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Communicates routine clinical technical service-related information to colleagues, managers, consultants, nurses, other health care colleagues and patient carers.
Participates in departmental meetings and contributes to effective communication within the department.
Answers telephone inquiries from pathology users and patient carers and provides routine information about methodologies and service requirements.
Manages own work under the supervision of experienced BMS staff, will refer to more senior staff for support. Communicate any difficulties, problems, accidents or incidents affecting the department to a section leader/manager promptly.
Responsible for processing immediate, urgent and non-urgent work to maintain turnaround times in line with Trust and Service polices.
To work in the dissecting room and categorise specimens according to clinical details, and assign a specimen code as appropriate. Participate in the reception, sorting and processing of samples through the dissection room.
To ensure correct patient ID on both matching request forms and specimen,s and follow appropriate quality and error logging procedures in the event of incidents.
To carry out histological techniques including the fixation and processing of body tissues. This includes recognisable body parts, products of conception containing fetal parts, fetal and post mortem tissue, which may cause distress. To also perform precision orientation and embedding of tissue, cutting of paraffin wax sections and staining methods.
To assist pathologists during specimen dissection, and clean working areas of tissue, faeces, mucus and blood.
To carry out the selection and macroscopic description of biopsy samples at cut-up, as defined by Royal College of Pathologists guidelines and departmental SOPs, including CU P11.

Please refer to the Job Description for the full specification of responsibilities and requirements for this post.

We will also welcome applications from graduates who have completed an IBMS-accredited biomedical sciences degree. You would then complete the IBMS registration portfolio and complete HCPC registration before moving to a registered BMS role.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences or equivalent.
Registration portfolio from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) or equivalent (Working towards for trainee role)
Hold registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or working towards for trainee role.

Skills

Essential criteria

Demonstrate good hand/eye coordination.
Will be able to effectively work within a complex multidisciplinary team.
Be able to adapt to the changing exigencies of the service.
Possess good communication and presentation skills.

Experience

Essential criteria

Have a working knowledge of the methodologies used within the histopathology service.

Attitude, aptitude

Essential criteria

Effective role model, demonstrating NNUH’s PRIDE values of People focussed, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Excellence
Demonstrates understanding and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Job Description, which includes a Person Specification, provides a full outline of responsibilities and requirements for this role. Please use your supporting statement to demonstrate how you meet the person specification.

Visa and Immigration

If you are wishing to apply for this role and would require sponsorship (this includes if you are already in a sponsored post and looking to change employer), you can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this post by assessing your circumstances against criteria specified on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/your-job.

Travelling to work

Staff parking is available onsite; however, this is limited during core working hours. We have more capacity in the evening and at weekends and can usually provide spaces during those hours.

We look to allocate these spaces fairly. Our Travel Office have a set of criteria that staff must meet in order to qualify. If you qualify for a space, you may be placed on a waiting list if we are at full capacity.

The NNUH is served by a number of public buses, and we offer generously discounted monthly passes with First Bus & Konect.

The Costessey Park and Ride runs regularly each day from 06:30 (from P&R) to 20:45 (from NNUH) and this service is free for NHS staff. There is a regular Thickthorn P&R service as well which is free. Applications to the Travel Office are required for this service. We also have a discounted service from the airport P&R if you purchase a bundle. Please see Konect website for further details.

The NNUH host multiple bicycle racks and a salary sacrifice scheme. We also benefit from a Beryl station onsite.

If you work at another Trust site, please discuss travel and parking arrangements at interview.

DBS

If this post involves working with children or adults the application form will ask for information regarding previous convictions as you will be required to undertake a Criminal Record and Barring Check known as a DBS check.

If you are a new employee or registering with the Staff Bank you will need to meet the cost of this unless your salary is less than point 9 of Afc

NHS Service

Should you be appointed to the post we will need to establish any previous NHS service via the ESR IAT and we will accept the submission of your application as your agreement to this.

UK Registration

You will need to have current UK professional registration where this is a requirement of the role.

Application

Following candidate feedback and to reduce our dependency on paper, all our communication with you regarding your application will be by email so could you please check your e-mails (and Spam) regularly.

We value equality in our team and recruit from all sections of the community. We recognise there is a wealth of talent among people who have a disability and if you meet the minimum criteria detailed in the person specification and have a disability, you may wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme by indicating this in the relevant section on your application.

We look forward to receiving your application and if you do not hear within the next four weeks this will usually mean that you have not been short-listed. However, if you wish to confirm this please contact the person indicated on the advert.

Flexibility

Whilst every effort will be made to recruit to the post as it is advertised, there may be occasions where we consider alternative working patterns, such as part time working, or contract types, such as secondments, depending on circumstances. Should you wish to work in a different working pattern to that stated in our advertisement, please indicate this in the supporting statement to your application.

Useful Information

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