Job summary
Jersey is an ideal place to pursue your career, offering a unique environment with all the advantages and challenges of living on an island. You will be on a beautiful island, with good weather, great beaches and walks and excellent restaurants. You will pay a lower rate of taxation, be able to transfer your UK pension and we offer an excellent relocation package.

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Specialist Biomedical Scientist to join our Infection Sciences team. This post is based in bacteriology, full time and you will be required to participate in the weekend and bank holiday rota. Our laboratory processes over 120,000 samples per annum and provides a comprehensive service to Health and Care Jersey, including the islands GP's and the Jersey Blood Service.

This is a modern well equipped laboratory, with a Bruker MALDI-TOF, Bactec Blood culture analyser, and Cepheid GeneXpert system. The Department has UKAS accreditation. It is approved by the IBMS as a training laboratory. The Department has a proven track record in training and is committed to further education and personal development of staff.

You must be HCPC registered with at least 3 years post registration experience in bacteriology and have a specialist diploma or equivalent.

Main duties of the job
Apply specialist scientific knowledge, methods and advanced technology to the investigation of clinical samples, to guide the diagnosis and management of infectious diseases, protecting the health of islanders.

About us
Jersey is just 14 miles (20km) from the west coast of France and 85 miles (137km) from the south coast of England. The Island is easy to het to from the UK and mainland Europe. There are numerous daily flights in and out of the island

Striking scenery, a safe and inclusive society, miles of sandy beaches, high performing schools, an enviable work-life balance, a heritage, political and economic stability, low personal taxes, warm summers and mild winters.

Jersey has been a Crown Dependency since 1290, which means its not part of the UK but a self-governing possession of The Crown. Jersey has its own democratically elected parliament, government, tax system, and laws. However, the island does have a close historic relationship with France and the UK and relies on the UK for defence and international relations. It is also part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) which allows British citizens to move freely between the UK, Republic of Ireland, and the Channel Islands without a passport.

Jersey offers extensive and quality healthcare services, with private and state supported options available. The NHS is not available in Jersey, healthcare services are delivered by Health and Community Services. For the first 6 months, health care services will be provided at an added cost.

Job responsibilities

• Perform and report on a range of specialist infection and molecular laboratory analyses on a variety of samples, giving advice on appropriate techniques, to guide and contribute to clinical diagnoses, treatments and the evaluation of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
• Prioritise work, using personal knowledge and experience, to meet urgent clinical need and agreed turnaround times, and contributing to the control of infection, preventive programmes, the safety of the blood supply, and hospital bed occupancy management.
• Take personal ownership of scientific decisions that impact on patient care, alone or often leading a small team, by reporting bacterial, viral or other infections, antimicrobial susceptibility, antibody levels and molecular testing results, to enable prompt and appropriate patient treatment.
• Troubleshoot instrumentation and procedures, resolving technical nonconformities, ensuring laboratory work meets pre-agreed quality acceptance criteria.
• Take on the lead role for a specific area of responsibility, such as coordination of IT systems, health and safety, audit, supplier management or introduction and verification of a new scientific technique, facilitating an effective structure of management and delegation.
• Network with other professionals at all levels, sometimes coordinating with off-island consultants, to give advice on guidelines and techniques, appropriate specimens and examinations, to manage users expectations and to give laboratory results.
• Coordinate and monitor internal and external quality assurance scheme reports, participate in internal audit and contribute to external accreditation, giving assurance to service users that the quality of laboratory work can be relied upon.
• Educate, train and assess the competence of less experienced employees in detailed laboratory processes and scientific principles, and take responsibility for own continuing professional development so as to engender a culture of career-long learning.
• Lead on the writing and review of specialist procedures and other documents, keep accurate records of scientific investigations, and participate in verification and control of procedural change, to demonstrate commitment to quality and assurance.
• Assess and minimise clinical risk to ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Experience of working as an autonomous practitioner in a relevant specialist setting, acquired over approximately three years in a medical laboratory, of which, approximately two years is in the relevant speciality.
• Evidence of continuing professional development that conforms to HCPC standards.

Desirable

• Experience in blood donor testing.

Qualifications
Essential

• Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) specialist diploma in medical microbiology or virology, or equivalent postgraduate diploma level qualification or equivalent experience.
• BSc(hons) in biomedical science, accredited by the IBMS or equivalent qualification accepted by the IBMS.
• IBMS certificate of competence, or legacy equivalent (e.g. CPSM logbook)
• Registered with the HCPC and the Jersey Care Commission as a biomedical scientist

Desirable

• Health and safety qualification or certificate.
• Relevant information technology qualification or certificate.
• Job-related mandatory training in health and safety, data security and safeguarding.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details
Employer name
Health and Community Services

Address
Government Of Jersey
Jersey General Hospital
St. Helier
Jersey
Channel Islands
JE1 3QS
Jersey

Employer's website
https://www.gov.je (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
Chief Biomedical Scientist Microbiology
Victoria Atherton MBE
V.Atherton@health.gov.je
01534444088

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).