Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• A Healthcare Science Associate Practitioner is part of a clinical support team whose purpose is to provide timely and accurate high quality scientific information that will assist service users from the hospital and community, in the establishment of a clinical diagnosis and monitoring of patient treatment.
• The Healthcare Science Associate will use practical skills to carry out a tasks associated with the pre-analytical preparation of specimens within the Histopathology Department. The tasks undertaken are more advanced than those of an HSA.
• Specimen reception: To deal with the reception, sorting and labelling of patient specimens, identifying inadequate and mis-labelled specimens and ensuring urgent samples are prioritised.
• Recording specimen dissection descriptions, data entry including macroscopic descriptions onto APEX, preparing specimens for analysis, including booking in patient and specimen details, storing, retrieving and disposing of specimens. Assessing x-rays to determine end part of decalcification.
• Carefully prepare samples for diagnostic testing or storage. This may involve delicate procedures to manually handle category A samples, describe samples and place into a labelled cassette matching necessary paperwork and documentation
• As directed, undertake basic testing under supervision of BMS staff, record and enter results onto laboratory computer systems e.g. macroscopic descriptions of category A specimens
• Assist in the training of new members of staff in the standard operational procedures required of them
• As directed by BMS in technical charge of section, assist in the induction, basic training and competency assessment (as appropriate) of new or less experienced staff by demonstrating duties and providing advice and guidance
• Loading/unloading tissue processors and initiating processing programmes.
• To carry out, under supervision, laboratory procedures:

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o Embedding. Morphological alignment of surgical biopsies within molten wax

o Microtomy. Cutting 4 micron sections of tissue

o Special stains; Undertake staining procedures to identify specific tissue structures or organisms

o Antigen retrieval procedures (heat mediated and enzyme digestion)

o Processing of biopsies into epoxy resin for electron microscopy

o Identifying and labelling electron micrographs o Undertaking manual immunocytochemistry procedures

o Pipette body fluids, which require manipulation of transfer pipettes and manual dexterity.

• Use laboratory equipment: -

o Faxitron X ray equipment,

o Cassette labelling machines

o Cytospins and centrifuges

o Slide staining machines,

o Immunocytochemistry autostainers (programming daily runs, loading/unloading of slides, preparation of reagents general maintenance)

• To work in compliance with local health and safety rules to ensure a safe working environment for you, colleagues and visitors.
• To adhere to department and Trust Health and Safety policies (including COSHH, Risk assessments and Standard Operating Procedures) and to report any noncompliances to a senior member of staff.
• Oversee HSAs working in the section
• Train new members of staff (HSAs)
• Answer telephone enquiries, retrieving results in accordance with SOPs

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.