Associate Practioner Chelsea
Job description
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Associate Practitioner, with good interpersonal skills and a committed team worker to join the Histopathology department, located at the Chelsea site of The Royal Marsden Hospital. The major focus of the role will be in performing essential technical duties for the department, responsibility for specimen processing, data entry of requests, section cutting, assisting with automated immunohistochemistry and institute hybridisation, maintenance tasks and supporting scientists in providing a reliable and accurate diagnostic service. Attention to detail is important and the post holder must be able to work to high standards, following defined protocols and assist in the production of accurate & high quality analytical results for the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This is a very high profile department working to demanding turnaround times and providing services both to Royal Marsden Clinical teams as well as acting as a reference centre for other hospitals in the UK and offering expert opinions to institutions worldwide. Applicants must have A levels including a science subject and have experience working in a relevant laboratory. This is full time post. The Trust encourages and supports continuing professional and personal development and Pathology runs a CPD Club The post holder will perform a wide variety of tasks within the Histopathology Department to provide support to scientific staff in the examination of biological samples. Duties will include, amongst others, specimen processing and preparation, data entry of requests, equipment maintenance and liaison with other hospital staff. The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital. At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do. At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements. For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification. To be able to work within specific areas of the department, with appropriate training: Specimen Dissection Receipt and checking of samples against request forms Assisting Pathologists in the diagnostic sampling of fresh and formalin fixed tissue Ensuring cassettes are appropriately labelled Assisting in the preparation of appropriately identified blocks of tissue for diagnostic work Understanding and appropriate use of Vacuum Infiltration Processors (VIP’s) Assisting in the embedding of processed tissue blocks into paraffin wax Use and routine daily/ weekly maintenance of VIP’s Section Cutting and Staining Use of microtome’s to produce tissue sections from paraffin wax samples (internal and external samples) Understanding of specific requirements for tissue sectioning for different tissue types, subsequent diagnostic techniques Mounting tissue sections on slides Accuracy in ensuring slides are appropriately labelled Use of automated staining system to produce H&E staining Basic understanding of routine maintenance of automated H&E staining system Use of manual and automated cover slipping techniques
