Job summary
The post holder will play an active role in the ensuring the smooth running of the Cellular Pathology department on a daily basis. Working in a supervisory capacity they will provide direction as appropriate to assist in the in the management of the workload and the Cellular Pathology team. They will participate in staff training and competence assessment in all areas of the department and foster a culture of continuous improvement enabling the highest standard of patient care. They will maintain good working relationships amongst all staff, promoting effective team work and the professional image of the Department of Pathology within the Trust.

The JD and PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Main duties of the job

• Maintain and foster the highest possible standards of technical work in the department maintaining ensuring compliance with ISO 15189:2012 (UKAS), HSE and HTA standards
• Act as lead in the relevant EQA schemes, undertaking internal quality control on a daily basis and acting upon any defects identified during the process
• Participate and coordinate routine processing, embedding, section cutting and staining.
• Coordinate the rotas for all areas of the department
• Coordinate and play an active role in the delivery of the department scheduled audit program, ensuring any non conformances found as part of the process are actioned
• Ensure that equipment is used is accordance with departmental policies and suppliers instructions and maintained correctly. Report any defects of equipment found during use to the assistant departmental manager
• Maintain adequate stocks of reagents and consumables within the department
• Identify and implement improvements and development of the service, evaluating new equipment and introducing new techniques where applicable

About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers and Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing and AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Details
Date posted: 03 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year Per annum pro rata
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 409-8345457
Job locations: Whiston, Prescot, L35 5DR, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities
Clinical and professional responsibilities

• Maintain registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Adhere to relevant Codes of Practice of the HCPC and the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)

Administrative responsibilities

• Ensure all records are kept up to date and stored safely for compliance with the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS)
• Comply with good laboratory practice required for the standards of ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) and the Health and safety executive guidelines (HSE)
• Comply with the local and national policies for safe, secure and confidential processing and storage of patient and other laboratory information
• Follow trust policies, guidelines and procedures when using the Trust wide IT system
• Participate in audit of data held on the laboratory IT system

Teaching and training responsibilities

• Responsible for the supervision, training and continued competence assessment of Biomedical Scientists (BMS), Trainee BMSs and Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLA)
• Ensure the delivery of training, development and competence assessments of all staff.
• Assist, as required by the Departmental Manager, in the organisation of, and participation in, formal training programmes for staff members.
• Coordinate and Undertake tutorial sessions to assist trainee BMSs with the completion of the Registration portfolio and state registered BMS staff with the specialist portfolio.
• Participate in formal and informal CPD activities and attend educational and training courses as appropriate, maintaining knowledge of advances in relevant scientific areas, through continuing professional development.

Person specification
Our values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications
Essential

• MSc Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
• Fellowship of Institute of Biomedical Sciences or equivalent
• Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council

Desirable

• Management Qualification within the NHS

Experience
Essential

• Minimum 2 years post registration
• Knowledge of continuous Improvement processes
• Proven ability to manage and perform audit
• Working knowledge of laboratory computer systems and standard IT packages
• High level knowledge of pathology instrumentation
• Knowledge of Health and safety requirements including COSHH regulations and assessment
• Experience of managing quality systems including document control, ISO 15189:2022 (UKAS) accreditation and Keele Benchmarking
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development

Skills
Essential

• Demonstrates ability to work under pressure and give direction to others as appropriate to ensure effective management of the departmental daily workload.
• Demonstrates the ability to organise own workload and that of departmental staff
• Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Demonstrates good time management skills

Desirable

• Experience of presentations

Other
Essential

• Prior experience in the implementation of new technologies
• Ability to manage a team as part of that team
• Evidence of good personal development and a commitment to general staff education and training

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: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address: Whiston, Prescot, L35 5DR, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Operational manager, Cellular Pathology, Jane Winstanley, jane.winstanley@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk, 01514301969

Apply through our website.