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Job summary

Main area
Pathology Department
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
319-7887332KD
Employer
Northumbria Healthcare - NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
North Tyneside Hospital
Town
North Shields
Salary
£49,387 - £56,515 Per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
27/04/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Northumbria Healthcare - NHCT Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust logo

Pathology Digital & Informatics Lead

NHS AfC: Band 7

Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work for an organisation that was voted the best acute and combined acute and community trust in the country, based on the experience of its staff (NHS Staff Survey 2022).  Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare and, this is…the Northumbria Way!

What the Northumbria Way means for you:

  • Extensive staff health and well-being programme including access to our specialist Wellbeing Hub
  • Support and connection through a variety of Staff Network groups
  • A range of flexible working opportunities
  • Generous annual leave and pension scheme
  • Access to lease car and home electronics scheme (qualifying criteria applies)
  • Opportunities to improve your professional development through our vast training programmes
  • Access to savings scheme via salary sacrifice with Northumberland Community Bank

We work closely with Kids First Nurseries that are based within our trust grounds at Wansbeck, North Tyneside and Hexham hospitals to care for our Trust family's children, they offer care for children from 6 weeks old up to 4 years.  There are a number of funding options run by the government to help working parents, including Early Years Funding and Tax Free Childcare.

Flexible working offers choice in where, when, and how we work, ensuring patients remain at the heart of all we do. It’s open to everyone, and we aim to find solutions that work for both you and the organisation. All arrangements must be reasonable and balanced to maintain safe and effective patient care.

We are proud to be one of the country’s top performing NHS trusts – rated ‘outstanding’ overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We provide a range of health and care services to support more than 500,000 people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside across the largest geographical area of any NHS Trust in England. Our teams deliver care from hospitals, a range of community venues and people’s homes. Our hospitals include a specialist emergency care hospital (the first of its kind in England), three general hospitals and community hospitals. In the community we deliver a wide range of community and public health services.

We lead in innovation and quality, having opened the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub during the Covid-19 pandemic and have recently launched our Community Promise – a pledge to make a real impact not just in healthcare but on the wider factors that affect people’s lives, such as education, employment and the economy. 

If Northumbria Healthcare sounds like somewhere you could belong we would love to hear from you. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.

Whilst Northumbria Healthcare are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes.  If you use AI, and it poses a risk  to the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process. 

Job overview

As we embark on the next stages of our Pathology Digital Transformation Programme an opportunity has arisen for an experienced Biomedical Scientist to join our Digital Pathology team on a permanent basis.

The post holder will practice as a specialist registered Biomedical Scientist and act as the dedicated Pathology Digital Lead for the day to day support and development of Pathology IT systems such as; Winpath Enterprise LIMS, specialist middleware systems, ICE and NPEX.

Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.

Main duties of the job

•    The post holder will act as the dedicated Pathology lead for Pathology clinical applications and wider Pathology requirements including analyser and middleware etc
•    Act as a technology champion; working with staff across all disciplines on embracing technological changes and ensuring these are implemented in a safe manner. Role in encouraging pathology staff to upskill with IT.
•    Responsible for the coordination and implementation of change, including large scale Pathology IT change programmes
•    Ensure Pathology staff across all roles and disciplines are aware of and up to date with business continuity procedures in the event of downtime whether planned or unplanned
•    Liaison with 3rd party companies on, issues, risks, implementations and updates
•    Auditing of users, and ensuring appropriate access to systems is maintained alongside Applications Management
•    Ensure appropriate SOPs for all Pathology staff on the use of IT systems exist and are up to date in line with Pathology Quality Management Standards.
•    Ensure IT enables lab to maintain ISO/MHRA standards.
•    Undertake IT related corrective actions and flag risks as appropriate
•    The post holder will be responsible for the maintenance of equipment in relation to Pathology systems across the department and lead on  the implementation of new technology, procedures and policies.

Working for our organisation

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality – opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England?  Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read ‘applicant guidance notes’ before submitting your application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

•    The post holder will practice as a specialist registered Biomedical Scientist in the Pathology Department, working as part of a team in the provision of a high-quality diagnostic service to Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust and General Practitioners. 
•    Working as the lead for Pathology IT alongside regional colleagues on strategic developments as part of the ePath Programme
•    Post holder will be responsible for the management and co-ordination of the technical activities of the Digital & Informatics speciality area, working alongside senior colleagues on the strategic management of Pathology systems such as LIMS, NPEX, Middleware and ICE across the whole department
•    The post holder will take the lead role in resolving any technical failures or managerial non-conformities that arise through the improper or incorrect use of Pathology systems, which may impact on service delivery.  This will include the investigation of relevant incidents according to the trust incident management policy and in conjunction with Pathology Quality Manager, introducing service change as required and monitoring impact of change. 
•    To ensure the resilient delivery of pathology information management by providing both application and operational support, working within scope of competence to ensure day to day delivery of pathology IT solutions, and ensuring system inputs and outputs satisfy the needs of the users. 
•    Post holder will be responsible for identifying and planning for the modification of pathology systems to meet the changing requirements of service users
•    To keep abreast of developments in laboratory informatics that may benefit the quality of services provided by the NHCT Pathology Service
•    Acting as the dedicated Pathology lead for Pathology clinical applications and wider Pathology requirements including analyser and middleware etc
•    Ensures operational integration across all IM&T applications in use across the NHCT Pathology service
•    Ensuring staff across the trust and wider community including Primary Care, Community and regional colleagues are aware of changes to Pathology IT systems and processes
•    They will also participate in the supervision, training and development of Trainee/Newly Qualified and specialist Biomedical Scientists (BMS), Associate Practitioners (AP) and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA) on the safe and proper use of Pathology IT systems.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • IBMS Approved BSc (Hons) or equivalent
  • Relevant masters level of knowledge or equivalent experience
  • State Registration (Health Professions Council)
  • Evidence of Continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
  • PRINCE 2 Practitioner or equivalent experience in the leading of projects and change initiatives

Experience and Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Significant post state registration Pathology experience or significant experience of working with clinical/NHS systems and data interfaces.
  • Experience of operating within a formal and structured data environment
  • Advanced knowledge of Laboratory Information Management Systems
  • Understanding of Pathology regulatory requirements e.g. UKAS
Desirable criteria
  • Management experience

Other Requirements

Essential criteria
  • You may also need to travel between Trust premises as required for the performance of your duties. You may also be expected to work at any of the trust sites. The Trust would consider making reasonable adjustments to the role, if necessary, to enable a disabled person to undertake the role

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardDisability confident employerCare quality commission - OutstandingStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Better Health at Work AwardHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldNHS England - Work Experience Quality Standard - Gold Award

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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
Hannah Bacon
Job title
Pathology Programme Manager
Email address
[email protected]
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