Job summary
- Main area
- 317 Corporate Laboratory - Blood Sciences
- Grade
- Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job share
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 317-2025-19-16-DR
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Town
- 317 02 Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Salary
- £24,625 - £25,674 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/05/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 18/06/2025
Employer heading

Senior Healthcare Science Assistant
Band 3
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and suitability qualified Senior Healthcare Science Assistant to join the Blood Sciences Laboratory in our Autoimmunity and Protein section and our Flow Cytometry Section. This laboratory performs immunology and haematology assays for Newcastle Hospitals, the wider region through the Northern England Haemato-oncology Diagnostic Service (NEHODS), and acts as a national and international referral laboratory for specialist immunology.
The Blood Sciences Department is UKAS accredited and is housed at both Freeman Hospital and Royal Victoria Infirmary. The laboratory is progressive, well equipped and is accredited for training.
- Interview Date: 18 June 2025
- Full & Part Time Hours
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
Main duties of the job
Successful candidates will work alongside a team of other Senior Healthcare Science Assistants, Biomedical Scientists and Clinical Scientists, contributing to the day-to-day work of the section.
Duties will include
- specimen reception
- administrative tasks
- performing practical laboratory work.
You must have good attention to detail, organisation skills and be able to prioritise and manage your workload.
Working for our organisation
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- A Senior Healthcare Science Assistant (HCSA) 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 Senior HCSA will use extended technical skills to carry out a variety of laboratory duties including reception and data entry of requests received and some routine pathological tests under the direct or indirect supervision and guidance of a Biomedical Scientist.
- To assist in the preparation of specimens for analysis, including the separation of blood, serum and plasma, and the cataloguing and storage of specimens.
- Entering requests into the laboratory computer system.
- To carry out, under direct or indirect supervision, some laboratory diagnostic tests and the operation of laboratory equipment. This may be in the laboratory or in Point of Care Testing environments such as wards an clinics where supervision and advice may be available by telephone or electronic means.
- To order blood products from the National Blood Authority and to transfer blood stocks as appropriate under the supervision of a senior member staff.
- To label and issue patient intended blood/blood products.
- To assist in the department Quality Assurance programmes
- 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 non-compliances to a senior member of staff.
- Answering telephone enquiries and retrieving results in accordance with the standard operational procedure.
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.
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.
Person specification
KNOWLEDGE
Desirable criteria
- Basic understanding of the biology of the blood
SKILLS
Essential criteria
- Technical skills to support the routine use of laboratory equipment
- Good communication skills
- Good interpersonal skills
- Keyboard skills
EXPERIENCE
Desirable criteria
- Experience as a HSA in Blood Sciences
QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
- NVQ 3 or equivalent in Biomedical Science related subject or equivalent plus laboratory working experience or significant Blood Science laboratory experience
- Educated to a minimum level of five GCSE at grade C to include English, Maths and Science or equivalent qualifications
Applicant requirements
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Marie Bainbridge
- Job title
- Healthcare Science Section Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01912825078
- Additional information
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